Post by Lindsay on Apr 1, 2009 20:45:42 GMT -7
In order to understand the history, you must understand the cult's creator. You do not need to read this, but it would probably be beneficial to your role playing career on this site. Josiah Jensen is the Leader of the Cult.
History
What causes a man to lose his sanity? Scientists have puzzled over this for many years. Perhaps it is not the question of why. Perhaps it is the question of what. Perhaps Josiah Jensen is not insane, and really does hear the voice of God. Perhaps he is a vessel for the greater good. That is what the people of the cult believe- most of them, anyways. Some of them go through the steps, act the part, but secretly long to run out of that place, jump the fence, and live what others might live. Some of them have been in the cult so long that they are barely aware of other people’s existence, or they merely choose to ignore it. The cult is situated in New Mexico. The area around the pentagonal land is barren, brown, and dusty. The land inside the pentagon, set apart by a high barbed wire fence, is unnaturally green. The grass is thick, luscious. It looks as if it was put there by some sort of magic, since it stops dead right at the fence, no more or less, but it is really due to clever fertilization and underground sprinklers that had been set up years ago, right when the technology was at its most expensive.
The cult itself is quaint, but modern in small ways. It has running water, and electricity from underground cables. There are 13 buildings in the main ‘village’ of the cult; twelve houses, and one church. The church is in the middle facing ‘1’. Noon is facing north. A map of the cult can be viewed here. House One is occupied by Josiah and his family, including his many wives. In each consecutive house, from Two to Twelve, there is a father. This father earned the right of having wives and his own home for his ‘children’ by either being born there, or helping Josiah with the cult in any way that they could. Some brought women into the cult when it was early on, helping start things out. Others were born there, but were not the first born son of their mothers. The first born son of every mother is sacrificed to God. According to Josiah, this will help purify humankind, and remind us what a sacrifice is. It is true, mothers appreciate all of their children more after watching their first son burned alive upon an altar, up on the hill. The hill is where Josiah saw his first vision, where God told him to build ‘heaven on Earth’, the one place he didn’t have to worry about. ‘God’ told Josiah that there was going to be huge changes going on, and that all the people inside the cult would be safe from damnation if he followed all of the rules.
The rules of the cult are simple. In the morning everyone wakes up. Before anything happens, everyone heads out to the chapel for morning mass. There they burn incense and sing praises while the sun rises. After 30-40 minutes of this, they end with a prayer and go back to their individual homes for breakfast and morning clean-up. After this they head out and do their chores. Young children, who are under the age of 10, generally don’t have anything to do other than play or herd animals towards the stable. Older children, who are from 10-17, help herd animals, check them all for injuries, and check for young. Josiah also selects a few choice young adults to walk the fence every day and make sure it is in good repair, and to make sure that the fence is securely locked. The selected children alternate this job as much as possible, as it often takes all day and is quite tiring. The adults feed the animals, carry buckets of water for them, and tend to their gardens and crops. Each house has their own mini-garden, where they can plant whatever they like. There is also a group garden where potatoes, corn, and other such vegetables are grown and split among the group. There is a large section of land that alternated growing hay and clover to feed the animals. During planting and harvest time, the whole group gets together and helps out while the younger females cook a huge group banquet to celebrate. Life is simple. Life is good. At the end of the day everyone gets back together while the sun goes down to sing more praises to God. This lasts for another 30-40 minutes. Then they end with a prayer, and everyone goes back to their houses to relax and go to bed.
There are twelve families in the cult, as you already know. The Father is the man of the house, and is given the right to have his house by Josiah. After he gets his own house he earns the right to marriage. He can be given wives, or he could pick any unmarried woman for his own. It has also been known for one man to give another man one of his wives, as if to start off their family. The children always stay with their mother, unless decided by Josiah, or until they are married. The children live in the home of their mother until they are married, or the male gets to live in his own house. A man may have as many wives as he wants, but must always ask permission from Josiah before asking the woman (not that she has any say in the matter). All of the wives sleep in the same bed with the husband, unless there are other arrangements in that particular house. Some men prefer that he has one woman per room, and she sleeps with her children, while he gets his own room. It really depends on his preferences.
There is also life outside of the cult. Only Josiah, and a few selected older men that he trusts, have ever seen it. They go there occasionally to buy supplies, clothing, and/or food for their animals if their harvest couldn’t last all year (it typically doesn’t). The town’s people think that they are ranchers, or something, and stay away from them. The teenagers around there are usually more curious. Some of them have been known to follow Josiah to the cult, but they have never made it past the gate (as far as Josiah knows). Others, randomly out looking for a good time, run into the fence and wonder why the grass is so green. Have they ever seen grass that green? There isn’t much to do in the town, for kids their age. The most they can do is party it up on someone’s farm, or head out into the fields and have a bon-fire. They do what they can to entertain themselves, but it is only a matter of time before another one crosses the fence. Then they mysteriously become someone’s child, or simply go missing.
THAT is basically the plot. If I happen to think up more, I may add on. If you have any questions, suggestions, or ideas, feel free to PM me. I'd love to consider any new thoughts on the matter, or anything that could be added that happens to arise in the role play.
