Celestial Palatinate
| Celestial Palatinate | |
|---|---|
| History | |
| Founded on | The Edge |
| Status | Active |
| Organization | |
| Purpose | Following the righteous path toward increasing and refining the Sum |
| Membership | |
| Leader | Taman IV |
| Information | |
| Colors |
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| Species | Angels, Humans |
| Scryfall Statistics | |
The Celestial Palatinate is a mighty state in the Edge that is comprised of many species, systems, and worlds, with humans being the most numerous of its subjects. The Palatinate is an opulent, dynastic, absolute monarchy under the command of the divine emperor, the Regent Maximum Taman IV. Summism is the Palatinate's state religion.
Description
Power is held by the Regent Maximum, but the Regent's will is enacted by the many Cosmogrands, the nobility of the Celestial Palatinate.[1] The Taman Dynasty is the ruling dynasty of the Palatinate, with Taman IV serving as its current Regent Maximum.[2] The Cosmogrands are near-absolute monarchs subordinate only to the Regent Maximum, each ruling at least one world. The realms of the Cosmogrands provide the economic and military strength of the Palatinate. The power an individual Cosmogrand has in the affairs of the empire is tied directly to their command: the size of their holdings, the development levels of the worlds under their rule, the strength of their navies and number of knights, and so on. Consequently, Cosmogrands are not only determined to expand their holdings but also develop them. It is better to be rich in one developed world than to be bereft of a vast claim of space.
Cosmogrands, like the Regent Maximum, are unitary figures that are invested with divinely granted state power.[1] Below the Cosmogrands, there is a vast structure of nobility, divided into parallel civic and church stations and obligations. Of note are the knights and lords of the free companies, the Palatinate's cause-mercenary military forces. There are numberless free companies, ranging from a single ship and its crew to organizations that are effectively state armies for mighty Cosmogrands. Of these larger free companies, the Sunstar Free Company is the current favored regiment of the Regent Maximum, considered in the Palatinate to be a blessed regiment and the de facto state army. The Palatinate provides the ships and weapons used by the Free Company, as well as a holy sanction.[3]
Summism
Summism, the faith of the Sum, referred to by its members as "the True Faith," is the state religion of the Celestial Palatinate.[1][3] It is a syncretic faith with a living leader, the Regent Maximum of the Palatinate, and many holy sites distributed across the worlds and stars in its territory. At its core is the worship of the Grand Cosmocordance, physics as understood by the Summists, articulated through a living prophetic compass called the Bright Sum. The Bright Sum is a doctrine embodied in axiomatic behavior and comportment: it is the figure that remains at the end of the Celestial Palatinate's faithful tabulating and calculation of the data of the universe. By following the guidance provided by the Sum, one can follow the righteous path toward increasing and refining the Sum. The Sum is self-constructing, but the faithful must compile and advance it. The universe will eventually run out of aether to form new stars. When stars are done forming, dawn will end, and the universe will have to run its course on the light and metal it has made until, eventually, it runs out. Keeping stars alive prolongs the dawn, and the more light and metal that is made earlier in the universe, the longer that light and metal can work to make a difference. The Summists see INEVITA as anathema and work to prevent it by reigniting supervoids via the use of colossal star-reviving weapons called horizon javelins.
According to the Grand Cosmocordance and the physics of sunlit reality, there is no time travel. The past cannot be altered. It does not exist. There are no parallel universes, timelines, frozen past, or beckoning future. There is only the now, the present, the space between the Walls, between infinity and nothing. And thus, no fixed future to create prophesies.[3]
Summism competes with Monoism as the most widespread faith in Pinnacle space, each trading the claim to the greatest number of practitioners, physical sites, and client worlds at any given time.[1]
Teachings of the Astelli created the foundations of the Summist faith, although that is a closely guarded secret in the Palatinate.[1] The sacred texts of Monoism are known as the Faith Space.[2]
The "Litany of Dawn" is one of the most common prayers in the Summist faith, given while facing the star one is orbiting. It has several versions within the church, the orthodox version of which is:
Praise the dawn light, praise for the morning
As it rises, so do we rise
Praise the dawn light, spark of creation
As it rises, so we all rise
Praise the dawn that drives time and motion
As it moves us, so we will move
Oh—
Thank the dawn that dawns!
Thank the dawn light, mover of being
Because of its being, so we may be
Thank the dawn's first light, grace for the living—
Dawn is growing, so must we: grow the count of dawns to be!
Praise the dawn, for it is the arrow
That points to the brightness of the far sky.
Cherish the dawn, for it is unfinished
As it rises, so do we rise."
Anstruth
To be, do, speak, or think "anstruth" is to act against the Grand Cosmocordance of Summism; anstruth is anti-epistemic, anti-doctrinal, profane, and blasphemous.[1] Anstruth posits that which cannot be posited, assumes that which cannot be assumed. Anstruth is a manipulation of things that cannot be manipulated, an admission that there might be a cosmology other than the Cosmogrand's.[3]
Anathalmanac
Should a member of the Summist faith encounter an anathematic object, the Anathalmanac provides instruction on dealing with such an object.[2] After establishing an arbitrary setting, the tabula lists seven potential protocols for dealing with the artifact.
History
Founded by the Astelli before Pinnacle and the introduction of faster-than-light travel, the Palatinate is ancient among interstellar states.[1] The holy empire's history is rich with eon-spanning epics, unification wars, schisms, and dynastic clashes. Its divine investiture is a relatively recent development in the Palatinate's history, a consequence merely centuries old at the conclusion of a series of unification wars.
The Celestial Palatinate and the Monoist Monasteriat are engaged in the Entropy War.[1]
In-game references
- Represented in:
- Referred to:
References
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Miguel Lopez, Jay Annelli, Laurel Pratt, and Amanda LaFranco (June 20, 2025). "Planeswalkers Guide to Edge of Eternities". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ a b c Seth Dickinson (June 21, 2025). "Edge of Eternities Episode 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ a b c d Seth Dickinson (June 25, 2025). "Edge of Eternities Episode 3". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
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