The Arrival
After receiving clearance to enter Fiorid airspace, the space cruiser Trans al-Mekha had landed in Verdalfheim's mountain landing pads in the Piedraema region, at a friendly distance to the final destination of those it had come to deliver unto the Conclave. A pair of llort in tight space suits departed from the space cruiser alongside a small airship with humans. As they came closer to the Conclave, the larger one flew closer to her mentor.
"This planet is so verdant!" Guyineber said as she turned around in the air playfully and excited, taking deep breaths of the oxygen-rich air. "It looks so beautiful from up here! Please, flightmaster Pako, can I take a look around? I promise I will be at the debate before it ends!"
"You have been here barely an hour, young lady." The older smaller male llort rolled his eyes. "You've barely earned your hair and immediately you're showing you haven't shed your childishness."
"I'm not afraid to embrace my inner child." Guyineber said with a smile. "I am at harmony within myself, between the old and young, the mature professionalism of a Society diplomat and the child-like wonder of a first flight!"
Pako grumbled. "Fine then, but don't embarrass me and be on time."
Guyineber saluted him with a smile. "I promise at least one of those things, sir!"
She flew off and down into the forests below. Pako continued to grumble as he approached the landing pad of Radicefst. He did agree with Guyineber though: it looked verdant and beautiful. The architecture caught his interest more, and he admired the columns of white stone before one of the elves caught his attention and he joined up with them and with the humans of the Society after they had landed too.
The Debate
Pako had sat at the debate for a little while, listening in on each representative that spoke up in turn to advocate for their faith. When it came time to take a stand himself, he rose up from his seat. Pako stood just over 6 imperial foot tall, on the shorter side for a llort, though his tail was long. His skin was a pale sky blue colour, his eyes a dark electric purple, his upward-curving horns a boney white with that same purple colour coming as a soft glow from their crevices. He was hunched over slightly and he was dressed in the tight space suits of the Society, in black and white and purple for him. Over it, an attendant had draped a blanket--mostly for show--which the old man now shed. Unlike many young llort, Pako had hair: white locks falling down from his scalp to his shoulders, and even more strikingly, a white mustache and beard of similar length.
"Honoured fellows of the Elect," Pako began, "I have listened to you all with great attention. It does me good to hear the passion in your voices, that even as I approach my bicentennial and likely my death, the younger generations have the energy to carry foward what good the older have to offer them!"
He smiled a moment at those gathered around, pausing in appreciation.
"A similar passion lies in others on Mekhala, neighbours to the Khylokian and the Glic whom you've already heard speak. Soon you'll hear the words of my younger companion, but let me first open by addressing the key points of this meeting."
He held up a hand with one finger outstretched.
"Firstly, to sum up: the Imperial Cult has as its pillars three key things. Science. Holy Space. And the Emperor. The process of Science is key to our existence and to progress. It is key to knowledge. It is key to truth and justice. It is key even in this meeting of faith! The noble Verdalfr have invited us here, because a plurality of perspectives is necessary for the pursuit of higher truth! Science must work hand in hand with faith to see to it that all that can be Known is the purview of Science, so that whatever remains that cannot be Known and must only be Believed falls under what remains of pure faith alone. I do not think this is controversial among those gathered here. Sir Garrick Mynqvist here," Pako gestured at the Coedd representative, "made the observation that biology, geography, psychology, the occult and more should all be studied, should all be Known and be represented within one's faith. That is why the Imperial Cult strongly positions Science as a central pillar. The Imperial Cult does not claim to be Science Itself, but it does claim to a champion of education and knowledge."
He poked a second finger into the air.
"Secondly, where does the variety of different magics come from? This question is one that puzzles many and was justly asked by the esteemed Druids here. Magic can be categorized and studied and understood, and thus magic can be a science. Yet magic is also full of mysteries, for there are many kinds of magic and not all are fully understood yet. In time, they may fall under Science as well, but it is without a doubt also intrinsically tied to faith, especially those magic disciplines that depend on belief and personal conviction. In that regard it might be similar to views that live in the realm of the Bafatis Dynasty, or Caipe Ushere with their Practica Arcanai. It is here that Holy Space is key to my faith. Space is all around us. We occupy it with our physical existence and beyond the planets' atmospheres it can be all there is for lightyears. Space is full of energy that can be harnessed. While my kind has a slight advantage with talent due to being adapted to living in outer space, talent alone cannot make up for pure, learned skill. Many of those who have learned of the space magic the Society teaches have become skilled adepts. Some can even compete with whole spaceships for speed and power, as shown in the races held on Mekhala. Their track record--" Pako smiled at the unintended(?) pun "--speaks for itself."
He raised a third finger.
"Thirdly, we must consider where the deities of the others here stand within our own view of the universe. How do we consider them? An important question. We all live in a world far larger than the one of two million years ago. Sir Garrick Mynqvist has mentioned that Coedd has spread far. It certainly has grown a lot here on Sansar. The Bloodfather meanwhile is a very local deity, made as one with Ophon. It is here that the third pillar is very important: the Emperor! The Coedd mantra of Coedd is all is well known, but if Coedd is all, then why are we not already Coedd? Why is Coedd so Sansar-bound? The Verdalfr have colonized their moon. Have they found Coedd there? A question to be answered later, perhaps. I shall tell you that there are things beyond Coedd and larger than Coedd."
"To start small and factually: we are all part of Tekhum. We are all part of the Empire. We are fellow servants of the Emperor. The Emperor is eternal. This all has been so for millions of years, as the reckoning goes. A temporal constant. A temporal power. A fact. Science. There upon Ophon the Emperor resides and therein we find that the Bloodfather of the Khylokians is one conception of the Emperor as divine. There was an argument that more of the Elect joining their voices together is a sign of a good track record. I agree there is merit in that. The Imperial Cult has voices across all orbits. A good track record. Then," he held up another hand.
"On the other hand, some of you here state that there is the divine in all of us, and I agree there as well! As I said, we all are part of space. We have a measure of divinity within us. Magic. The Emperor is one of us, more than us, and so does it not stand to reason that the Emperor possesses such divinity as well, perhaps in greater measure? And even if there were not the Empire being greater than all of us, then there is Holy Space, even larger in scale than the Empire!"
Pako waved the three fingers around. "Science. Holy Space. The Emperor."
He lowered his hand. "These are the pillars of the faith of the Imperial Cult and they have inspired us to passion, to progress, to value sentient life and treat people with value."
He bowed. "Thank you for listening."
He returned to his chair.
The Party
After the debate had sapped Pako's energy, he slumped down in a chair in a slightly quieter part of the party section, clutching a glass with a cold and colourful beverage. "Emperor's shingles, I needed this."