The Vows
These are the tools that we might practice Countenance. The trials that acolytes will endure in the hopes of Conversion and achieving true devotion. The means by which Sisters will achieve discipline of body and mind and one day find Submersion.
Vow of Silence
The Vow of Silence, perhaps ironically, speaks for itself. An acolyte or Sister submits to an extended period without talking, and like all Vows this trial is always rigidly enforced.
Whether it’s a strict, punishing rubber ball that is slotted into an acolyte’s yielding maw, or a plug insert embedded into the interior of a Sister’s gas mask, the undertaker of this Vow is made to feel the hefty presence of their silence. Unable to talk as they complete their duties, only able to listen and obey as instructions are relayed to them. They are made to feel like mere instruments, and pushed further down towards the Void’s embrace.
Vow of Restriction
Arms bound, legs belted, body forcibly contorted into shapes of prayer. The Vow of Restriction, which aims to limit the physical form through bonds and padlocks, can take many forms in its application, some light and some considerably less so.
Throughout the convent, acolytes can be found hobbling throughout our halls as they tend to their daily tasks with newfound difficulty, while Sisters are positioned on pedestals in immobilizing contraptions and left on display as aspirations and reminders to all of our shared devotion to rubber.
This Vow, when implemented thoroughly like so many others, embraces objectification to the highest extent. To understand how it is to be nothing more than a statue, or a piece of furniture, helps one come to comprehend how it is to be just a pawn in the Void’s machinations.
Vow of Deprivation
Sight cast into shadow, hearing smothered by silence. Scent and touch overwhelmed into uselessness by heavy rubber. The Vow of Deprivation, particularly sensory deprivation, is a powerful one indeed. By taking away one’s ability to interact with the physical plane, the creeping touch of the Void becomes ever more apparent.
There is vulnerability. There is acceptance. A total removal of perception is a dive of faith. Lowered into the inky blackness of abyss, to writhe and splutter until, eventually, calm. The mind simmering down into the emptiness that surrounds it. Peace and tranquility. Emptiness. A vassal for the Void to flow into so easily.
Vow of Vows
A Sister kneels in prayer. Her body’s position is not born of choice, but of the belts and cuffs that hold it tightly so. She can barely even shift upon her knees the restraints are so unforgiving, a muffled grunt from behind her gas mask the only indication of her discomfort. But she cannot even hear her own pleas, for the latex padding around her hood has utterly drowned the world around her out. She exists in an infinite moment of total solitary, with all of the Vows applied and to their fullest extent. The Sisterhood will continuously check on her status, to monitor her devotion, like they do to all the Sisters in line with her, identical in the application of their faith.
