Tutai Qo

The Tutai Qo was the philosophy of the Fireborn Sovereignty, descended but unique from the One Sith Code and the Neo-Sith philosophies that marked the development of the Sith Imperium, the Sovereignty's predecessor. The Tutai Qo was developed by Diocese Ginungagap at the request of the Sovereignty's council during their reformation.

Creation
The Tutai Qo came about as the result of several days of intensive meditation in a Force Cave by Ginungagap. On emerging, he presented the following speech:"Is the Force alive? Is it infallible?

The Jedi view the Force as the ultimate guiding light. They believe that to submit to the will of the Force is to help forge destiny. They think that to serve the Force grants them the power to defeat evil and achieve peace.

Yet the Jedi have existed for twenty-five thousand years. They have held positions of power across the galaxy, up to and including the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic - yet evil remains, and so little of that time was unmarred by war.

The Sith view the Force as the ultimate weapon. They believe that if they were to subjugate it, they would wield unstoppable power and could conquer everything and everyone.

Yet the Sith remain underdogs in much of the galaxy's history. Sith Empires and alliances and other forms of governance rise to power and fall to ashes, either by the actions of the Jedi or their own number.

So what is the Force? Is it a weapon? A diety?

I submit to you that the answer is both far more complex and more disappointing than either of the above.

Most Force-users understand that the Force is, fundamentally, an energy field created and sustained by life, and it sustains and empowers life in return. Though our instinct is to see this reaction as a sign of life and even intelligence, the truth is that complex systems evolve naturally without 'life' as we know it just as often as with it.

Look at the galaxy itself. Planets orbit stars; stars orbit stellar clusters; clusters orbit superclusters; these all orbit around the dense mass of black holes, stars, and stellar gasses at the center of the galaxy. Does this mean that the galaxy is, itself, an intelligence, organizing these movements and their evolution? Most educated persons would understand that this is not the case. It is merely the result of natural laws interacting and finding an equilibrium.

Stars still collide. Planets are torn apart by gravitational forces greater than they exert. So too do wielders of the Force clash and fight, representing actual facets of the Force in seeming internal conflict.

So the Force is not a living being. Its 'will,' as the Jedi often interpret it, is nothing more than the currents of a massive sea of energy, pulling and pushing, pressing parties together and tearing them apart in ways that seem to make sense. These coincidences are not destiny: they are merely the result of a natural system finding equilibrium.

But nor is the Force a weapon. To wield a weapon, one must be greater than it, able to exert one's will over it to achieve an end. The Force contains us; what is part of a system cannot fully control the system it's in. It would be akin to one's arm believing the legs a weapon.

We may utilize a part of the Force, or we may ignore it. We may surrender to its currents or fight them. But it surrounds and penetrates us - to believe oneself in control of it, or that such control is possible, is folly.

Where does that leave us?

In control of ourselves.

The Force may be utilized as a tool of self-discovery. Its currents shape and alter our surroundings and, to one degree or another, our own hearts and minds. To learn to tap into this power, and the forces of nature it may manipulate, is to gain fuller access to oneself and one's path. This is the Tutai Qo - the Forged Way. It is not a path to mastery over all creation, as such is impossible, or a path to a higher purpose, as none may be given. It is the path to the self, and the power that comes from truly knowing and owning oneself. It is the only true power possible, and it is ours."

- Ginungagap, First Diocese of the Ashborn Covenant

Meaning
High Sith for "Forged Way," the Tutai Qo replaced the One Sith philosophy when the Sith Imperium reformed into the Fireborn Sovereignty. It comes from a similar place as the Sovereignty's new moniker, inspired as they both were by the mythical phoenix that thrives in fire and is eternally reborn from the ashes of its previous self. To encompass the full life-cycle of a flame that cannot be permanently snuffed out, the imagery of the forge was utilized. Like the forge, the Tutai Qo required careful balance between brutal heat and stifling cold. Should the forge overheat, consuming too much, it could be cooled; should it be extinguished, it could be reignited. And like the forge, various disparate elements could be combined into alloys and constructs of great power and beauty.

The name was also a means of referencing the central tenets of the Tutai Qo as delivered by the temporarily resurrected ghost of Keine Raam, original founder of the Imperium: Nurl'erze sas Vuts. Thenoti kia Mirtis. In Sith, this translates to 'Untouched by Fate. Unknown to Death.' Through the celebration of these ideals, the Sovereignty believed it could 'forge' its own eternal path, never truly falling victim to the entropy that seemed to hound it.

The Code
The Tutai Code summarizes the beliefs of the religion in a mantra:

There is no Light, there is Fire.

There is no Dark, there is Ash.

There is no Destiny, there is Mastery.

There is no Death, there is Rebirth.

We are the Spark and the Ember.

We are the Shapers and the Shaped.

Into the Forge we cast our chains, and from them shape our fate.

The Edicts
The Tutai Qo is comprised of four Edicts depicting the values of the belief in detail:

Edict of Infernos
It is so that the brightest spark will never compare to the blazing inferno. Those who seek to wield all power alone will never succeed; those who utilize and build upon the strength of others will wield power beyond the reach of the one. As the Code decrees:

"There is no Light, there is Fire."

"We are the Spark and the Ember."

Together, united, we are stronger than any one of us could ever hope to be alone.

Edict of Ash
It is so that all flame turns to and produces ash. But it is also so that with the Force and with our combined will, the cycle may begin anew; so long as a single spark remains, it can set ash aflame and begin the cycle again. As the Code decrees:

"There is no Dark, there is Ash."

"There is no Death, there is Rebirth."

So long as one adherent of the Tutai Qo remains alive and true, so long as one citizen of the Sovereignty lives, so too do all who have passed, and they shall give life to what once was again.

Edict of Shape
It is so that those who relight themselves may choose what and where to light. Those who choose what to save and what not to create themselves, shape themselves into what they hope to become and destroy what they wish to forget. As the Code decrees:

"There is no Destiny, there is Mastery."

"We are the Shapers and the Shaped."

To master death in any form is to master one's own life in every form. To choose to continue is to choose how to continue, and with this power we may be what we wish to be, ridding ourselves of what holds us back.

Edict of Alloys
It is so that those who shape themselves can only burn away so much before adding to the whole. It is also so that one cannot create something from nothing. To balance what must be destroyed, new materials must be embraced; new ideas, perspectives, and minds must be forged as one with that which remains. As the Code decrees:

"Into the forge we cast our chains, and from them shape our fate."

Just as one alone cannot be stronger than many united, so too must it be acknowledged that one perspective cannot capture the truth unaided. We must allow ourselves to understand, at the least, those ideals outside our own purview in order to take what makes us stronger.

Enforcers
The Tutai Qo is protected, examined, refined, and taught by the Ashborn Covenant. The Covenant is the religious and Force-centric organization that replaced the Ministry of the One Sith when the Sith Imperium became the Fireborn Sovereignty, which in turn replaced the Ministry of Mysteries & Ancient Knowledge. The Diocese, head of the Covenant, sits on the Sovereignty's Council and helps to ensure that policy and goals are informed by the ideals of the Tutai Qo. The Covenant as a whole works to ensure that any who wish to gain enlightenment through the Tutai Qo may, and that those who choose other paths do not actively work to spread heresy.