eternity:all_in_the_family [redemption]

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=======The Primrose Cult=======

The name of Lorelei Wildner began to feature in the public conscience semi-regularly from around 670PE, with stories diverging significantly, such that within five years, there were dozens of conflicting reports and accounts of the beliefs and status of her so-called primrose cult, although most of the people involved did not use that word themselves. 

=====Rise=====

The original((probably)) Lorelei Wildner, apparently accompanied by fellow former inmate Elena Tyrell, used her experience of b-Exagora to rip apart the society of a planet and its moon at the fringe of the Empire. Her followers stated that she chose this society for its fascist oligarchy; less an expression of disapproval as a cleverly-targeted ground for recruitment of those ripe for alternative ideology. Inspirational, horrifying and bewildering in varying degrees depending on the observer, her rise to cultdom confounded authorities. The movement, although its emergence and modus operandi appeared similar to the concurrent planetary takeovers by the Sovereign Family, never claimed to be allied with the Sovereign Family. 

The cult consumed several cities and large regions of the planet and moon. Less than a decade later, a nearby planet was known to be extensively inhabited by primrose cultists. Their influence waxed and waned, and Lorelei herself – any Lorelei claimed to be Lorelei herself – seems to have dedicated the remainder of her life to recruiting followers, terrifying the rest of humanity, and curbing the constant falter into theism. Lorelei((universally)) opposed worship, but drank down devotion: an idiom of hers((plural)) spread through humanity: //blind devotion to an institution is the most poisonous expression of constraint, but devotion freely and knowingly given is perhaps the most valuable currency.// 

The force of belief – of what they called the rejection of logos, of the resurgence of primal life – in her followers was said to be so intense as to overwhelm the observer. Those in neighbouring cities described tumultuous rebellion, massacres, and apparently dialogue-free nights of ceaseless howling and laughter. This was called out by some interpreters as ironic reflections of the cults' reputation. Reports rose of great gatherings of people with great overarcing purpose but no obvious //aim//. Both fear and admiration of the cult were represented in the mainstream Elysian media. Calls for the Elysian Military to become involved went unanswered. The Tripartite War between the Empire, the Tel and Bel-Ashan had not yet concluded, and the influence of the Sovereign Family was alluded to. Ties were evident with the power hubs of Verm Ambrose and Athena Ibsen. All told, concerning the primrose cult's ascension and spread, conspiracy theorists found orgasmic troves of material.

The primrose cities were frequently misconstrued as a simple bastion of hedonism and became a destination of pilgrimage for the less restrained, who expected to bathe in Dionysian obscenity and be baptised upon a writhing altar of flesh. More often, the pilgrims found instead significantly less sexy circumstances of dereliction, economic stasis and poor plumbing. 

=====Rhetoric=====
The primrose symbol was fiercely defended and attempts to instigate it as a religious icon, badge of identity or object of devotion were met with furore, again and again. Misunderstandings amongst travellers and at borders were rife and frequently bloody. Broadcasts from the primrose cities circulated through humanity for a host of reasons: novelty, ridicule, despair, horror, and frank adulation. Some of the broadcasts were videos of the lives of ordinary people. A lot of them heavily featured blood and flowers, with smeared skin and crushed petals, narrated by meaningful and calm words. Recurring themes included calls to kick away the crutches of deity, rip the bondage of logos((Many jokes about bondage were made at the cult's expense)), and crack through the shell that encases humanity, etc. Some broadcasts consisted of voiceless art: scrawls and classically-executed painting, of baby birds hatching, creepers strangling other plants, and lots and lots of blood. 

The more heavily-parodied rhetoric came from the speeches most probably truly by the original Lorelei Wildner: followers were told they could join merely by experiencing the pain of //leaving// the constructs within which they were entombed, emerging as a pulsating centre shatters the carapace. Humanity was exhorted to undergo the process of following Lorelei((or Loreleis, cumulative)): it will be torment, they were promised, but you will rejuvenate: juvenate: retrouve the juvenile, for it is in juvenility, it is in the emergence of the instinct, it is in the return to the primitive, that you will find redemption.

And suchlike.

=====Later History=====

Although 'Lorelei Wildner' soon split into dozens of iterations, each diplopically-fading successor figure 'preached' initially similar lines. Discrepancies and evolution at each meiosis, plus the spread of the primrose cult through multiple systems and into Tel and Consortium space, soon gave rise to beliefs of hierarchy and agenda so strongly originally despised. Followers frequently found the need to argue about, spill blood over and fixate on the tenet of  instinct without deity. Purges of cultists and assassinations of Lorelei became part of their public image. Lorelei found martyrdom time and time again.

Presumably the first Lorelei, the young woman known to history who served time at Redemption Reform Facility, died at some point. At least some of successors claimed to be chosen directly by her. One or two claimed to be Lorelei reincarnated. Interestingly, a few Loreleis started a trend of claiming to be a Lorelei-Elena construct. These Loreleis were ridiculed and boasted fewer followers.

Fresh Loreleis continued the mythos and preserved the influence and life of the primrose cult, and the stream of new Loreleis shows no signs of stopping.
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