The Order of the Hammer is an
old order; an order so ancient that its roots are not known to even its own
adherents. In the great tapestry of the
City, the Order can perhaps be said to be a thread that passes through all
parts of the design.
Yet the theology and beliefs of
the Order remain shrouded in mystery to all but the most interested of the
laity. Although a citizen may encounter
a Hammerite in the street, may be imprisoned in a Hammerite gaol, may be tried
before a Hammerite judge in a Hammerite court, few know the motivations behind
these actions.
The Order of the Hammer is a
monotheistic religion, believing in the existence of a single deity who reveals
himself through earthly prophets. They
hold that this single, transcendent deity created the universe and
continues to govern it providentially. Underpinning this monotheism is the
teleological conviction that the world is both intelligible and purposive,
because a single divine intelligence stands behind it and has created it. Hammerite theology is extensively rooted in
the metaphor of their deity as the literal architect of the world. Just as an architect designs and constructs
a building, so the Hammerites hold that the Master Builder has designed and
created this world. And thus, since a
building has purpose, so the world has a purpose. The Order arose out of opposition to the Trickster, rather than
any positive act of will - as a result, Hammerite theology is orientated
towards a rejection of all that is seen as Pagan or ‘heathen’. It is a religion of opposition, as opposed
to one of independence. As a result,
the Hammers have evolved in such a way that this purpose is the rejection of
the beliefs of Order of the Vine.
Hammerites believe this purpose to be expressed in the words of
earthly prophets that the Builder designates.
It is held that the first prophet was a man known as the First
Apprentice, whom the Hammerites revere as the founder of their way of life. Further prophets seem to have appeared at
various points of history, who aided the Hammers in some way, and who further
codified and expanded the laws by which the Hammerites live their lives. Eventually, with the rise of a priestly
caste, the intermittent prophets came to be named High Priests. Over the centuries this custom has become
somewhat altered, with the result that the High Priest of the Hammerite Order
is now seen as the divinely appointed representative of the Master Builder.
The Hammers see the laws they are given by prophets as conditions
they must follow in return for continued existence in their Builder’s
creation. They regard their existence
as being part of a contract with the Master Builder – they must worship and
obey the commands of their deity, who has given them life and who provides aid
and direction for them. The direction
provided exists in the form of the “Book of Tenets”. This revered collection of assembled wisdom and rules forms the
basis for the Hammerite way of life. A
body of subsidiary lecture surrounds the Book, expanding and explaining the
contents of the book, and providing precedents and tales for study. Known as the “Compendium of Precepts,
Regimens, and Rules of Conduct”, it comprises many volumes that are divided
into three subjects – Precepts, Regimens, and Rules of Conduct.
The most noticeable feature of the Hammerite religion is the
seeming preoccupation with construction.
The Hammers see their deity as an engineer, and so regard the world as a
work of engineering. This stems from
their rejection of Pagan theology, and causes them to hold Order, expressed as
engineering or architecture, as the aspiration of the world. This has led them to devote energies into
the construction of ‘ordered’ buildings and machinery that leads to the
subjugation of the nature and chaos inherent in pagan theology.