Children of the Cathedral

Children of the Cathedral was a religious organization founded by Morpheus for the Master, to act as the public face of the Unity, infiltrating wasteland settlements, recruiting potential converts for the cause, and ease the transition of power by acting as moral guidance for the people.

History
Origins of the Children lie in a doomsday cult headed by Morpheus. The former Ripper was captured by Unity forces in 2152 and pledged service to the Master's cause, forming the core of the Children.

The Children were formally established in 2156, as the Master saw the benefit in establishing a benevolent religion to spread his doctrine throughout the wasteland, acting as advocates, infiltrators, and fifth columnists for the Unity. Missionaries slowly spread out across the wasteland, acting as eyes and ears. Their power base was set up above the Los Angeles Vault, concealing Unity operations on site. Although Morpheus was infamous for his ties with the Boneyard Rippers, the Children successfully concealed their origins from prying eyes, particularly the Followers of the Apocalypse.

In subsequent years, the Children slowly expanded across the wasteland communities, establishing clinics and hospitals. The services they rendered to those in need quickly earned them a reputation as a decent, if peculiar group of people. The only group suspicious of their intentions was the Followers of the Apocalypse, who observed that those who do not necessarily subscribe to their ideals frequently disappear.

The Children were destroyed on March 3, 2162, as the Vault Dweller assassinated the Master and the Cathedral was engulfed in nuclear fire. The surviving Children fled their hospitals and joined the remnants of the Unity in their retreat across the wasteland. Some made it as far as the Den in subsequent years, with many committing suicide on the way, unable to bear the death of their leader.

Society
Members of the Children were united by a general belief in the Holy Flame and its endless quest to heal the land and the people. By following the Cathedral's teachings, the Children would be able to find a better, more fulfilling life that's free of hardship and strife that marred existence in the wasteland.

Initiates would be expected to spend several weeks of meditation and fasting, before approaching an elder for acceptance into the ranks of the faithful. Alternatively, a prospective Child could volunteer to an elder for service work, including healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and teaching the young. Notably, accepted members were expected to keep their minds healthy and pure. To achieve this, the Cathedral proscribed alcohol and drug use. In return for their service and discipline, the Cathedral would provide for all of their needs.

Of course, as with any powerful and influential faction, the Children attracted a broad variety of people. On one end was the head of the organization, High Priest Morpheus, truthfully considered to be a corrupt opportunist, and numerous thugs used by the Cathedral as soldiers. On the other were people like Thorndyke, altruists who firmly believed in selfless service and sharing. Virtue was its own reward.

Clerical structure
Those wishing to serve the Cathedral began their journey as initiates, after fulfilling the aforementioned requirements (weeks of meditation and fasting or voluntary service to the elders). All the lesser functions were collectively referred to as acolytes.

Acolytes who proved their loyalty to the Cathedral could become Servitors. Once their indoctrination was completed, they would be brought to the Inner Sanctum and subjected to drug injections and torture. The procedure was meant to push their minds to the breaking point. Those who survived it with their psyche intact would be granted the appropriate rank and purple robes as a badge of their station. Those who did not were retained as laborers and soldiers, after filling their broken minds with Cathedral dogma. These "zombies" were a particularly common sight around the Cathedral.

At the head of the cult stood the Inner Order, composed of Morpheus and twelve other high priests. They acted as agents of the great Dark God, passing his words to the rest of the children, and as administrators overseeing the expansion of the cult and its day to day operations. They and their agents are also the only ones cleared to enter the Inner Sanctum of the Cathedral. At the time of the Cathedral's destruction, the thirteen High Priests included Morpheus, Father Lasher, and Elder Jain at the Hub.

Beliefs

 * See also: Glossary of Children of the Cathedral terms

As a religion, the Children of the Cathedral had three core beliefs:


 * 1) The nuclear weapons that scorched the earth were holy, for they destroyed the evil and decadence of the Old World (see United States and China for details). Commonly described as justice, they were called the Holy Flame or Holy Fires, as a metaphor for the death of the old world and the beginning of the new.
 * 2) The human nature is inherently flawed, making humans spiteful, violent, and stupid. This leads to a self-perpetuating propagation of evil and greed, leading to fragmentation and conflict.
 * 3) As such, the rebirth of the scoured planet could be accomplished by accepting the Master (the second Holy Flame) as the Master of All. By following his light, replacing selfishness with selflessness, and cleansing the unfaithful, the Nexus of Rebirth would be reached,  bringing rebirth to the planet and allowing humanity to thrive. It would be the unification of all people under a single banner, regardless of their race, gender, or other personal traits - and the elimination of the unfaithful from the world. This Unity would elevate the Children to a higher level of life.

Those who progressed far enough in service to the Children were able to learn first-hand some of the means through which Unity would be brought into existence. Worthy servitors could be transformed into super mutants at the Vats. Although the attrition rate was high, the resulting mutants were bigger, stronger, and faster than regular humans - and crucially, free of the vices that caused so much strife and misery among regular people. Naturally, these super mutants were considered gods by the rest of the Children, and presented as outsiders accepted by the Cathedral to those who did not share the faith.

Notably, ghouls held a special place in the Children's beliefs. They were considered holy, as their deformities and rot bore witness for the sins of past men in the present.

Varieties of faith
Notably, the Cathedral granted a lot of freedom in interpretation of its core tenets, with most High Priests developing their own doctrine based on the core tenets. Morpheus' sermons focused on the Children's role as messengers of evolution and healers of the land and its people, emphasizing the search for Unity: A higher level of life without hardship and strife, unity with fellow humans and mutants. The ultimate goal of all Children is to bring this unity into existence and subsequently achieve peace on Earth, by implementing the Master's vision.

Other High Priests represented a more practical approach in their doctrine. Elder Jain, head of the Hub hospital, echoed Morpheus' doctrine while offering a concrete road to this higher life. A life of contentment and fulfillment could be attained by working for future generations, rebuilding the planet and making it a better place for those who come after. Perseverance in the face of adversity was key. Jain proposed that the Children could accomplish anything through persistence and effort - military, if need be. While a peaceful solution was preferable, bringing others into the fold without violence, those who resist would be subjected to militant crusades aimed at destroying them as an obstacle to the Children's cause.

On the other end of the spectrum, Father Lasher focused on personal development, rather than service. Mutation was a non-factor: Every birth is a mutation of parents' DNA, everyone is a mutant: What matters is that they are guided on a moral and productive path. Moral progress could be achieved through pain, the most instructive force in the universe. The faithful were to be broken and then remade into tools of the Master's will. Enduring pain purified the mind and prevented decadence and ease, fostering evolution necessary for survival in the harsh wasteland. Those who succumb to pain and expire were a necessary sacrifice.

Lasher's philosophy did not focus on simple endurance of physical pain. Righteousness was also attained through struggle, trauma, and recovery, until one accepted the Master's truth without hesitation. Achieving that state was rewarded with consecration. Beyond that lay baptism, the ultimate honor, achieved by perfecting oneself through the endurance of pain, by the acquisition of wisdom, and the performance of service: Pain is knowledge, Wisdom is obedience, and Service is courage. In the end, one rejected the Light that destroyed humanity and pledged themselves to the Darkness in which all are equal.

Beyond the extremes of pacifism, militancy, and enlightenment through suffering, there were also moderate positions within the Cathedral. Sister Viola is a notable philosopher, who formulated an utilitarian philosophy. She accepted the Apocalypse as a fait accompli, one that was the result of a dissolute, fragmented world that rejected peace and unity. She believed the Children represented the only viable option at creating a unified world in a New California divided between isolated, conflicted factions. It was a conclusion drawn from the facts: The Followers and the Brotherhood were content to sit on the sidelines, the Hub was fraught with oligarchical strife, while the Boneyard was a stretch of ruins torn apart by tribal gangs. While she applauded efforts by adventurers and local militias to root out monsters and brigands, she believed that a concerted effort on a larger scale was necessary. The Children would bring order to the chaotic wasteland, ensuring its survival and preventing monsters from hurting humanity again. They would purge selfishness from human hearts, the same madness that drove humanity to unleashing Apocalypse on itself, allowing all to work for the common good.

The able would be elevated to positions where they could help the community, working as part of an ordered society that would allow all to excel in the role best suited for them: Drone, soldier, or queen.

The physical conquest of the wasteland was a necessary sacrifice, if the end result was an united world. As imperfect as it would inevitably be, she argued, it would have a better chance of holding itself together than the dissolute New California of the 22nd century, which would continue to develop into packs of powerful enclaves, eventually powerful enough to start Apocalypse all over again. Therefore, the Unity was a necessary defense of humanity from self-destruction, not dissimilar to the actions of self-proclaimed heroes killing foes by the dozen without a second thought.

At the same time, she did not believe that violence was ethical. Its only justification lay in the absence of superior methods to achieve the goals of the Cathedral. By extension, the Master's actions, could be accepted as, from her perspective, the only viable way to unify New California. Even the apparent genocide could actually be salvation in disguise, especially if its threat would ensure the people's cooperation and even eventual revelation of safer, less morally corrosive ways to achieve the Unity's goals.

The capstone of her philosophy was something she regarded as the paradox of peace: No struggle comes without a price, and the greatest struggle inevitably enacts the greatest cost. This struggle was an obligation, to yourself and your children, an obligation to improve your life. Abdicating that responsibility, citing the sorry state of the world, was cowardice.

Outside relations
The most noticeable effort of the Children was a network of hospitals set up in settlements across the wasteland, offering hope and some of the best medical care in the wasteland at a fraction of the usual cost. Their services were popular among the wastelanders, particularly when they matched the care quality of local practices at a significantly lower cost. For example, Doctor Morbid at Junktown lost all of his business to a freshly-established clinic, falling prey to his own business practices and price-gouging.

As a religious movement, the Children were naturally opposed to other groups that claimed a similar philosophical or religious foundation. The Followers of the Apocalypse were considered ignorant fools, following a false path that would only bring pain and suffering to fellow humans. Likewise, the Brotherhood of Steel was seen as misguided, lacking that which would make them truly righteous.

Interactions with the player character

 * The Children are encountered at hospitals throughout New California. The largest of these is located in the Hub, where they displaced the Crimson Caravan offices, offering free healing and flowers. Jain, the head of Hub operations, is the target of Decker's assassination attempt.
 * A smaller clinic is ran by two Children in Necropolis, offering complete healing in exchange for a fixed percentage of your caps.
 * Another clinic appears in Junktown, by Doc Morbid's garage, offering healing services at dumping prices.
 * The most important location controlled by the Children is in the Boneyard, south of Adytum. The Cathedral is the heart of its operations, housing key members of the cult: Morpheus, Lasher, Dr Wu, and of course, the Master in the Los Angeles Vault.

Technology
The Children's technological level varied. While their rank and file members were typically armed with simple melee weapons and armor, such as spears and leather armor, with most chanters wearing nothing more than the robes on their backs, bodyguards in field operations were issued high-caliber Desert Eagle .44 pistols for protection, with rifles, explosives, and ammunition secreted away in store rooms for use in the coming conquest of New California. However, their medical technology was advanced, as they were able to provide a variety of medical services in the field to those in need, asking for little to no money in return.

In terms of quality of life, however, the Children rivaled the Vaults and even the Brotherhood of Steel. The Cathedral, the heart of the movement, was a clean and entirely habitable place stocked with food, water, and medicine, with its own power generator, working electricity, restored Mach IV computers, and comfortable quarters for veteran members of the organization. Furthermore, the protection provided by nightkin was unmatched (except by crack assault Paladins of the Brotherhood of Steel), enabled by a combination of natural super mutant endurance, high end weapons, and standard-issue Stealth Boys provided to all members of the Cathedral and Vault garrison.

Behind the scenes

 * In original plans, the Children would gradually spread their influence out among the cities, establishing clinics from Adytum to Shady Sands. All this functionality was scrapped, with only the clinic at Junktown remaining.

Appearances
The Children of the Cathedral appear in Fallout and are mentioned in Fallout 2. Former members were to appear in Van Buren.