Commonality Philosophy
The philosophy that underpins the Commonality stems from the Elysian's drive towards enlightenment and interconnectedness with nature. It holds the following precepts to be true;
- At the beginning of time, all was one - concentrated at an infinitely complex point. This was perfection and divinity.
- Division broke this perfection, and the universe coalesced. Matter, however, maintains a love for itself, and the physical laws allow for structure and complexity to form.
- All things, given time, energy and space, move towards a state of interconnectedness and unity that creates complexity.
- Interconnectedness gives rise first to Life, and then to Mind, and then Will, and ultimately to Understanding.
- Through will and understanding we can stay the ravenous hand of entropy, and re-unite the cosmos.
Elysians revere the natural world, which they see as a source of complexity and abundance. They seek to link with and understand nature, and physical laws, and gain a sense of oneness with the cosmos. In their philosophy, perfection existed as a state at the beginning of the universe, and that their goal is to return to that state. Elysian psionic abilities are seen as an extension of physics, and of the natural inclination of Matter and Life to seek connection with itself. Other species can gain a portion of this understanding, and work towards a state of complexity, where they can aid in the grand task of uniting all that is into a perfect whole.
The major antagonist in the Elysian paradigm is the forces of Entropy and disunity. In their eyes, those who embrace ignorance and subjugate others for power are the petty servants of Entropy, so the Commonality seeks potential species that they can bring into their Faction and gradually enlighten. They seek meaning in all things, and try to promote deeper comprehension of oneself and one's environment.
The Commonality are not airy mystics - one of the main tools that they use to promote understanding is their sciences - they hope to understand the physical laws of the universe, determine which ones are the hand of Entropy at work, and avoid them. Their psionic powers are another element of this, and are seen as allowing the interconnection of independent minds for brief moments - a prominent Judge wrote on the subject in the widely taught tract Shepherds of Being. Nature itself, in its increasing complexity, offers opportunities to observe more esoteric physical laws at work, and thus gain understanding of them and conquer them.