Chosen of Excess
Sub-sect of Light of Hedon
Where the Light of Hedon encourages savoring the present, the Chosen of Excess devour it. They are the faith's jagged edge, members who push the philosophy of living in the moment to its most dangerous extreme. Restraint, to the Chosen, is a lie. Moderation is the only true failure. If the world is ending, they intend to meet it unchained, consuming every sensation the moment offers before it turns to ash.
Pleasure, pain, lust, rage: all are equally valid experiences when they strip away pretense and make a person feel alive. The Chosen pursue the Seven Sins not as casual indulgences but as commitments, each one taken to the fullest extent of a follower's capacity. When they act, it is without hesitation, moderation, or reservation. Their existence is a constant cycle of intensity and consequence, and they are fully aware that the path is not sustainable. Many burn out, their bodies or minds breaking under the weight of their choices. To the Chosen, this is not failure. A life lived completely, however brief, outweighs a long existence spent holding back.
Over the years, multiple fringe groups have been absorbed into the Chosen: the Wrath of the Seven with their extreme embrace of conflict, the Children of Velocity with their desire to "live and die fast," and the Crafters of Sin. These groups found common ground in the shared belief that experience should be pursued beyond the limits of what most consider possible. The Chosen of Excess are the faith's dark mirror, a reminder that joy, when unrestrained, can consume as readily as it liberates.
In the Aysea, the Chosen wear their extremity in public. Vestige has made them one of the ruling presences of the House of Excess, where they serve at once as guides, cautionary examples, and warnings, keeping the House honest about the sharpest edges of its theology while the Holy Synod watches them closely. The Aysea Chosen are unmistakable, built on what observers call the severe glamour of post-apocalyptic diva monastics: faces painted, posture drilled, layered garments cut to carry them from ritual hall to training yard so that the body itself preaches on appetite, restraint, and change. They hold a particular foothold in the Roman arena culture, drawn to fighters and burned-out crowd favorites whose fame and ruin they reframe as exaltation, and they keep a fraught closeness to the drug trade, moving through it by cultural and spiritual pull rather than by controlling supply.
Pleasure, pain, lust, rage: all are equally valid experiences when they strip away pretense and make a person feel alive. The Chosen pursue the Seven Sins not as casual indulgences but as commitments, each one taken to the fullest extent of a follower's capacity. When they act, it is without hesitation, moderation, or reservation. Their existence is a constant cycle of intensity and consequence, and they are fully aware that the path is not sustainable. Many burn out, their bodies or minds breaking under the weight of their choices. To the Chosen, this is not failure. A life lived completely, however brief, outweighs a long existence spent holding back.
Over the years, multiple fringe groups have been absorbed into the Chosen: the Wrath of the Seven with their extreme embrace of conflict, the Children of Velocity with their desire to "live and die fast," and the Crafters of Sin. These groups found common ground in the shared belief that experience should be pursued beyond the limits of what most consider possible. The Chosen of Excess are the faith's dark mirror, a reminder that joy, when unrestrained, can consume as readily as it liberates.
In the Aysea, the Chosen wear their extremity in public. Vestige has made them one of the ruling presences of the House of Excess, where they serve at once as guides, cautionary examples, and warnings, keeping the House honest about the sharpest edges of its theology while the Holy Synod watches them closely. The Aysea Chosen are unmistakable, built on what observers call the severe glamour of post-apocalyptic diva monastics: faces painted, posture drilled, layered garments cut to carry them from ritual hall to training yard so that the body itself preaches on appetite, restraint, and change. They hold a particular foothold in the Roman arena culture, drawn to fighters and burned-out crowd favorites whose fame and ruin they reframe as exaltation, and they keep a fraught closeness to the drug trade, moving through it by cultural and spiritual pull rather than by controlling supply.
Public Agenda
Push the Light of Hedon's philosophy to its most extreme expression, pursuing every sensation and experience without restraint or moderation. The Chosen believe that a life lived fully, even if it burns out quickly, is the only honest response to a world where nothing is guaranteed.
History
The Chosen of Excess crystallized within the Light of Hedon from members who refused to accept any boundary on experience. Over time, they absorbed several fringe groups that shared their extremist philosophy: the Wrath of the Seven, the Children of Velocity, and the Crafters of Sin. Each group brought its own focus, from violent embrace of conflict to the relentless pursuit of speed and sensation, but all found common ground in the Chosen's central conviction that moderation is the only true failure.
The extreme edge of the Light of Hedon, pursuing sensation and experience without restraint or moderation.
