----- Overview: Diocesians constitute the ordained clergy of the Solar Church within the Democratic-Republic of St Trotskie (DRST). Functioning as parish-level administrators, educators, and moral custodians, they uphold the dual tenets of Solar Devotion and Socialist Unity that define the nation. Ranked by seniority and merit, their authority extends into both spiritual and temporal spheres.
Distinctive Regalia: Diocesians are instantly recognizable by their luminous glossy latex vestments—tailored bodysuits of high-gloss latex in solar gold and brilliant white. Headgear typically consists of polished white rubber hoods with ear coverings over their ears resembling an ornate window. This attire serves a sacred purpose by reflecting the light of the Great Father. It is a visible manifestation of inner piety and communal purity. Maintaining this radiance is itself a ritual act. Polishing requiring hours of meticulous polishing with specialized oils and chamois cloths.
Primary Responsibilities:
• Sacramental Duties: Performing rites of passage (manufactory blessings, affirmations), sanctifying military hardware (especially aeromorph units), and conducting funeral services for citizens (cremation with solar invocations). • Sermons and Moral Leadership: First and foremost, Diocesians are moral guides. They serve to teach and guide the moral fiber of society. They are receptive to confessions and help those in their congregation on the path to penitence. • Civil Administration: Managing local archives, officiating personal unions, resolving minor disputes through mediation rooted in socialist-solar ethics. • Education: Operating public schools where citizens learn state ideology intertwined with solar theology, emphasizing craftsmanship, civic duty, militarism, and radiant self-discipline. • Community Guidance: Offering counsel on matters ranging from personal hardship to ethical dilemmas, framed within the Solar Church's pragmatic doctrines.
Cultural Significance: Beyond religious functions, Diocesians act as cultural anchors. Their visible presence embodies the DRST ideal. They are orderly, gleaming, and resilient in their white-and-gold rubber robes that accentuate their bodies. While deferential to military authority (the military holy orders' own marshals, constables, and seneschals), they wield considerable soft power through their integration into daily life.
Notable Practices:
Sanctification Ceremony: Grand public event wherein new aeromorphs and their warframes are anointed with sacred oils amid censer-smoke and solar hymns; their future crews attend as acolytes. Funerary Rites: Deceased loyalists are given a sky burial following funerary ceremonies. Bodies of the deceased placed high in towers of silence to give back to the Great Mother under the watchful eye of the Great Father. Traitors who are to be made into machinery such as fire control processors are bound, struggling, in gold-colored slick latex bodybags, perfectly accentuating their bodies where they are given their own funerary rites. Rather than the tower of silence, they are directed to the factory that will remake them.
Hierarchy & Advancement: Rank accrues via seniority and demonstrated commitment to parish welfare. It takes many years to advance as a Diocesian and is a lifelong comittment. They join the ranks of the Diocesians as junior Diocesians. Their path is akin to an apprentice, except it is broadly taken with most of the church. Urban, larger cathedrals are the primary hubs for new learners while smaller churches are often populated by more senior or experiences Diocesians who can perform their duties on their own.
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