Noctis (Reformed Stripping Path)
Noctis is a deity of the Reformed Stripping Path, representing the planet of the same name.
Noctis, the Lady Divine of the Night, emerged from the interplay of darkness and starlight at the dawn of creation. She embodies the mysteries, hidden truths, and silent strength found within the nocturnal realm. Revered across Bassaridia Vaeringheim, Noctis serves as a guide through the shadows, offering protection and illumination to those who seek wisdom and understanding amid life’s uncertainties.
Noctis in the Reformed Stripping Path
Within the Reformed Stripping Path, Noctis is celebrated as the divine guardian of the night and the unseen paths. She symbolizes resilience, introspection, and the pursuit of hidden truths. Her teachings encourage followers to embrace the unknown, navigate life’s challenges with agility, and find strength in silence and solitude.
Worshipers of Noctis often turn to her during moments of doubt or transition, seeking her guidance to uncover concealed knowledge and illuminate the path forward. She is particularly venerated by those who explore the esoteric and the arcane, as well as travelers who journey through darkness.
Noctis in the Bassaridian Zodiac
Noctis governs the Zodiac of Noctien, the tenth and final zodiac sign of the month of Thalassiel, associated with the Host Star Häpi, which appears at approximately 78°N latitude. Häpi symbolizes protection, swiftness, and agility in navigating challenges, reflecting Noctis’ role as a guide and protector.
The zodiac of Noctien inspires followers to embrace their inner resilience and adaptability, urging them to navigate life’s labyrinthine challenges with grace and determination. During this time, worshipers meditate on the balance between light and shadow, finding strength in Noctis’ silent guidance and the protective energy of Häpi.
Order of the Umbral Oracle
The Order of the Umbral Oracle, headquartered in the misted highlands of Lunalis Sancta, is the principal cult devoted to Noctis, Lady Divine of the Night and guardian of hidden truths. It functions as the Reformed Stripping Path’s premier institution for clandestine investigation, counter-ritual forensics, and doctrinal screening in cases where danger is concealed in ambiguity rather than open revolt. Within Bassaridian discourse the order is often described as “the eye inside the shadow”: an order whose task is not to dispel darkness outright, but to see clearly within it.
The physical heart of the cult is a tiered complex carved into the cliffs above Lunalis Sancta, where galleries and sancta open onto narrow terraces overlooking fog-choked valleys and small lakes. Interior corridors are lit by hooded lamps and polished stone that reflects only faint, controlled glimmers, reinforcing the discipline of partial sight. The central shrine, known as the Hall of the Steed, features a vaulted ceiling painted with the star-fields of Noctien and a great relief of Noctis riding the Steed of the Night, her Cloak of Night trailing across the sky. From this hall, Umbral magistrates convene night sessions to hear reports, issue sealed warrants, and assign operatives to missions that range from quiet mediation to high-risk Leviathan-tier audits.
Membership in the Order of the Umbral Oracle is tightly structured. Novices, called Veil-Readers, begin by copying the Hymn of Noctis, compiling nocturnal observation logs, and accompanying senior priests on routine shrine inspections without speaking. Those who demonstrate discretion and interpretive acuity are initiated as Oracular Adepts, entrusted with the first tier of investigative work: reviewing doctrine disputes, verifying visions submitted for temple recognition, and conducting low-visibility interviews in markets, libraries, and barracks. Above them stand the Umbral Magistrates, who lead Kleisthenes-sized cadres, oversee doctrinal triage cells, and serve as embedded spiritual forensic advisors to the Bassaridian War League and the Temple Bank of the Reformed Stripping Path. At the pinnacle is the Oracle Collegium of Lunalis Sancta, a small council whose members’ identities are formally public but whose internal votes and assignments remain sealed under Noctis’ prerogative.
Ritual life in the order is centered on controlled exposure to darkness and uncertainty. The signature rite is the Shadowwalk, a nocturnal procession through the upper streets and cliff-paths of Lunalis Sancta, during which Veil-Readers walk blindfolded, guided only by the touch and whispered instructions of their seniors. At key stations, passages from the Hymn of Noctis are recited, emphasizing the dangers of arrogant curiosity and the mercy of a goddess who reveals only what the seeker is ready to bear. This rite is closely linked to Leilat al-Kamar (Night of the Moon), celebrated on Thalassiel 54, when the city’s lanterns are dimmed and worshipers carry shielded lights through moonlit processions, staging shadow-plays that depict both the rewards of humility and the ruin of those who pry too deeply into forbidden knowledge. Noctic-Rabrev plants and infusions—strictly measured and supervised—are used in some advanced rituals to induce visions that Umbral Adepts later analyze for doctrinal and psychological content.
The order’s public face within Bassaridian society is that of a specialist in “invisible crises.” Umbral teams are regularly dispatched when rumors of heresy, schism, or eidolic influence are too subtle for conventional enforcement to interpret. They audit shrine curricula, examine marginalia on devotional texts, and reconstruct the propagation paths of anonymous pamphlets and encoded broadcasts. In library districts such as those of Delphica and academic enclaves attached to the Temple University of Delphica, the order is especially known for mediating conflicts between scholars and zealots: its cadres arrange safe-passage corridors for librarians and students, de-escalate confrontations over disputed manuscripts, and certify that controversial research falls within, or outside, canonical boundaries. In the national governance architecture described on the Bassaridia Vaeringheim page, the Order of the Umbral Oracle is explicitly tasked with local mediation, de-escalation, and the protection of civilian movement in contested civic-spiritual spaces.
Operationally, the order is deeply embedded in Leviathan-era security doctrine. The Bassaridian War League Operational Activity (51 PSSC) record notes multiple Centuria-level deployments in which Umbral Kleisthenes provide counter-ritual forensics and clandestine-cell analysis alongside urban stabilization forces. In early 51 PSSC, expanded spiritual–forensic detachments attached to the Vaeringheim Division included twin Kleisthenes from the Azure Sentinel Sect and the Order of the Umbral Oracle, supported by the Stoa of Rex Catonis and a Hetairos from Temple Alabaster. These cadres were responsible for tracing purse-snatch and extortion networks, mapping blast-site residue to doctrinal or eidolic signatures, and distinguishing between opportunistic criminality and true ideological threats. Later in the year, during the Delphica Schism, a full Umbral Kleisthenes was embedded with the Centuria that restored order in Delphica. Working under Operation Leviathan authority, they supervised doctrinal audits of seized tracts, screened detainees for spiritual reintegration, and oversaw the reinsertion of reformed mutineers into coastal restoration projects along the Strait corridor.
The order also appears in targeted actions carried out by other divisions. Under Operation "Nazht Séiakaren" in the Alpazkigz Division, an Umbral Hetairos was attached to forces deployed to Erythros following a major fire in a historic district. While conventional units managed relief and perimeter security, the Umbral cell investigated a clandestine raid on the local Temple of Silenus, reconstructing how the fire had been used as a diversion for the theft or desecration of sacred objects. Elsewhere in the same operational year, Kleisthenes from the order were tasked with doctrine screening and triage of “forbidden ideology” claims at shrine-adjacent universities, ensuring that Leviathan Protocol responses remained focused on genuine schismatic or eidolic risks rather than being hijacked by factional grudges or mob panic.
Economically and administratively, the Order of the Umbral Oracle is integrated into the voucher economy of the General Port of Lake Morovia as a high-value missionary service actor. Port tables list “Missionaries of the Order of the Umbral Oracle” under the Temple Bank of the Reformed Stripping Path with a relatively high valuation, reflecting the expense and sensitivity of deploying teams whose work often involves prolonged, low-visibility audits rather than quick ceremonies. These missionary cadres are not limited to conflict zones; they are also assigned to cities like Lunalis Sancta, Delphica, Aetherium, and Nexa to conduct periodic “night-assessments” of civic and shrine life, identifying patterns of quiet grievance, doctrinal drift, or predatory cult behavior before they erupt into overt crises.
The order’s role in extraterritorial policy is most clearly documented in Bassaridian involvement in Corum, particularly in the aftermath of the Baratar Scandal of 52 PSSC. When investigations revealed that clandestine arms shipments had exploited Baratar-linked channels to feed the Corum War, the Council of Kings and Temple Bank responded by re-orienting Bassaridian engagement around audited humanitarian corridors under the Straits Conventions of 52.06 PSSC. Within the initial 118-person civilian mission to northern and central Corum, the Order of the Umbral Oracle contributed one Dodekas and one Hetairos—twelve and six highly trained specialists, respectively—tasked solely with non-kinetic technical surveys. Operating under the oversight of the Haifa Compliance Exchange and alongside Kleisthenes from the Celestial Harmony Sect, Reverie Nebulous, Temple Alabaster, and Sanctum Delphica, Umbral teams conducted hazard mapping of underground settlements, ventilation checks in cavernous dwellings and workshops, and route validation for medical escorts and relief convoys. Their findings entered the HCE record as technical advisories, guiding respiratory-risk mitigation when the mission later scaled up under additional authorization.
In Corum, the order’s usual capacity for counter-assassin and covert action was deliberately restrained. Umbral operatives deployed unarmed, with no encryption devices or autonomous sensors, and accepted full visibility to observers from Nouvelle Alexandrie, the Imperial Federation, and Oportia. Internally, this was interpreted as a reapplication of Noctis’ ethic: the task was not to wield the night as a weapon, but to navigate and clarify the unseen dangers of air, architecture, and rumor so that other humanitarian cadres could work safely. Homilies circulated back to Bassaridia Vaeringheim contrasted these audited, corridor-bound missions with the secret flows exposed by the Baratar scandal, arguing that true devotion to Noctis requires not just uncovering hidden wrongdoing, but allowing one’s own actions in the dark to withstand full illumination.
Within the wider theology of the Reformed Stripping Path, the Order of the Umbral Oracle stands as the archetypal “night cult”: an order that insists the unknown is not an enemy to be annihilated, but a terrain to be crossed with discipline and humility. Whether guiding blindfolded novices along the ridges of Lunalis Sancta during the Shadowwalk, reconstructing the path of schismatic propaganda in the alleys of Delphica, mediating safe-passage corridors for librarians and students during campus unrest, or measuring airflow in a crowded Corumian schoolhouse, Umbral operatives present their work as nightly service to Noctis. In their teaching, to walk through darkness without panic, cruelty, or self-deception—and to report honestly what one has seen when dawn comes—is the highest form of worship the Lady of Night can demand.
Mythology: The Hymn of Noctis
The Homeric Hymn to Noctis, composed by the Bassaridian playwright Eliyahu al-Bashir, recounts the tale of Icaron, a scholar whose ambition drives him to seek the ultimate truths hidden within the shadows. Guided by Noctis, he uncovers both wondrous knowledge and darker truths that weigh upon his soul. Ignoring her warnings, Icaron reaches the Gate of Nightfall, where he is confronted not with divine revelation but with the reflection of his own hubris.
Overwhelmed, Icaron pleads for forgiveness, and Noctis grants him the chance to return to his people, carrying the lessons of his journey. He becomes a teacher of humility and balance, sharing the wisdom that knowledge must be pursued with respect for the unknown.
The hymn serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked ambition and the importance of humility in the pursuit of knowledge. It is recited during the Shadowwalk and the Leilat al-Kamar (Night of the Moon), reminding worshipers of the delicate balance between seeking truth and respecting the mysteries of the night.
Worship and Festivals in Bassaridia Vaeringheim
Leilat al-Kamar (Night of the Moon)
Leilat al-Kamar, celebrated on Thalassiel 54 in Lunalis Sancta, is the primary festival dedicated to Noctis, Divine of the Night and Illuminator of Hidden Truths. This nocturnal celebration begins with moonlit processions through the city, as worshipers carry lanterns to symbolize Noctis’s guidance through the shadows. The festival includes shadow plays retelling myths of Noctis, nocturnal feasts, and rituals centered around Noctic-Rabrev plants, which are revered for their mystical properties. At sacred sites, worshipers offer tributes and prayers, seeking Noctis’s wisdom and protection.
This festival reflects Noctis’s vital role in the spiritual and cultural life of Lunalis Sancta, celebrating her as the bringer of clarity and insight amidst darkness. It reinforces the community’s connection to the divine and their reverence for the mysteries of the night.
Epithets
Noctis is celebrated through epithets that capture her enigmatic and protective nature. She is known as the Mistress of Shadows, representing her dominion over darkness. As the Bearer of Secrets, she embodies her role as the revealer of hidden truths. Noctis is also called the Watcher, signifying her vigilance and guidance over the nocturnal realm.
Iconography and Depictions
Noctis is often depicted as a veiled figure cloaked in swirling shadows and shimmering starlight, riding the Steed of Night. She is frequently shown holding a lantern or torch, symbolizing her role as the illuminator of hidden truths and the guide through darkness.
Symbols associated with Noctis include the Crescent Moon, representing her dominion over the night sky, and the Thalassian Eagle, symbolizing wisdom and foresight. She is also tied to the Noctic-Rabrev plant, which derives energy from moonlight and is said to mark her presence wherever it grows in abundance.
Artistic depictions of Noctis capture her ethereal grace and mysterious aura, inviting worshipers to peer beyond the veil of darkness and uncover the secrets hidden within the depths of the night.
