"Life is a test. Everything around us is designed to test us, forge us as if we were metal in the smelters, a mighty sword being hammered by our actions and surrounded by the fires of the multiverse. As we make decisions, we either dull the blade, or sharpen it beyond the imaginations of anyone in the multiverse. We ascend or descend through the ladder; in each life we move up or down it based on our decisions. Life is a karmic cycle: were we a slug in the previous life, then a prime in this one? Anyone can advance to the mantle of godhood, all that's required is the proper outlook on things and the proper actions. The 'powers' now aren't so incredibly special: they're just people like ourselves that have taken the right actions, learned the right lessons, and ascended through the karmic wheel into their current positions. Work hard, and you could be one, too."
"Singing
pounded me in the ocean waves.
Without sight, without hearing,
I perceived the radiance
And the music
Such was my Source,
The origin from which all lives spring."
- A poem from the faction's beginning
"All life springs forward from The Source, and the ultimate goal of all is to reunite yourself with it. As you grow higher and higher, you begin to feel the vibrations and the rhythm of The Source as it beats within the heart of every living being. I can feel it now, only faintly. I have heard that Factol Ambar can hear it pulsing through every living thing... allowing him to determine exactly where everyone else is on the circle of ascension. Someday, I hope to be worthy of ascending to join our previous leaders within The Source."
Faction Overview
The Believers of the Source are one of the most open-minded groups in Sigil towards the multiverse. They believe that anyone can become a god, even if you were borne ugly, with a horrible defacing scar, or if you're just plain nasty. There is divinity within us all. They say that this divinity is called The Source, from which all life in existence springs from and is endowed with the innate desire to return to it. The only way to feel the Source, say the Godsmen, is to advance along the path of existence, climbing higher and higher until one is almost on level with it. To feel its energies coursing through your body, to feel on the level of its power... this is what it is to be a deity. To assume the mantle of godhood is to become as close to the Source as one possibly can while remaining an individual... it's said that to ascend beyond the state of 'power' is to reach union with The Source, thus beginning their cycle over again on the karmic wheel.
In Sigil, the Believers of the Source (or Godsmen, as they are often called) make their home in the Great Foundry of Sigil, where they work to forge tools and other metal objects. Weapons aren't the most common export of the Great Foundry, though many are indeed made. Many namers in the faction see a sort of beauty in the forging the steel, as though they are forging themselves. However, most of them stay away from the Foundry and spread throughout Sigil, seeking to the be tested by the circumstances that the multiverse throws at them in the Center of All. Fiends, celestials, other factions... they see Sigil as the testing ground of the multiverse. It is there that they will ascend the highest the quickest. It is here, where allies are made and enemies discovered, where only the strong survive and the weak are paved under... it is here that they thrive. The current factol of the Believers of the Source is a kind hearted half-elf named Ambar Vergrove. Once, he lived in the Outlands until a series of unfortunate tragedies drove him to Sigil where he lives now. He is currently one of the least aloof of the factols: nobody in the Great Foundry calls him by his last name, he's the friendly Factol Ambar, always out and working with his followers, always guided them ever-closer to the path of ascension.
Of course, what the Godsmen aren't sure about is exactly what they're being tested for. Ultimate good? Ultimate evil? Order, disorder? They're not sure as a group, and as such tend to be almost as fragmented as the Sign of One. However, because they're not as egocentric as the Signers, several of them believe in either helping others along the ladder of ascension. The more evil among them believe that they're there to stunt the progress of others to godhood. The majority of them, however, give a smile towards anyone else on the ladder: they're on the wheel just like the rest of them, and it's not good form to kick someone while they're on their way to the top.
Faction Life
The Believers of the Source are a rather loose group in their jobs: there are many paths to ascension. Some pick one task and stick to it. Others make it a point to better themselves through performing many tasks. Many serve as smiths within the Great Foundry itself, smelting the metal as if it were their own path of ascendancy. Others better themselves through physical means: becoming the strongest, the quickest, the most durable, and whatnot. Others teach themself a skill becoming a master at it, whether it be pottery, silversmithing, or scribing. Still others dabble in knowledge, writing sagely treatises on almost anything imaginable. These people base themselves into mastership: if they gain enough knowledge at something, surely they'll ascend. They usually gain this knowledge from apprenticeship and study; in the end, they all believe the Source, rising higher and higher towards their origins.
Allies
The Athar get along with the Believers of the Source because of their shared beliefs that the powers aren't so special. However, the Believers of the Source don't have the denoucatory tone towards them: the 'powers' are part of the Source, another group of beings dedicated to reunion with their creator, only a little further along. Some attempt to emulate these beings through worship, but eventually most lose interest: they don't truly believe in the tenets of their power, only in their current position.
The Sign of One, with its center of self, are great friends with the Believers of the Source and there is indeed a great deal of overlap between the two factions. The Sign of One believes that the multiverse is imagined by them, and the Believers of the Source believe that the multiverse is created to test them. Vaguely similar ideas, which usually means that the two factions don't quarrel so much.
The idea that the multiverse is a ring appeals to the Fraternity of Order, and they understand the Godsmen's view. However, they see the Godsmen randomly try to pick tests for themselves, while they're missing the whole point that the tests should be catalouged so that a distinct path to ascension can be laid out.
In general, the Believers of the Source find themselves well-liked wherever they go because of their open attitudes towards all people and races.
Enemies
The Bleak Cabal, seeing no point to the multiverse, doesn't find themselves on good terms with a faction that believes the whole multiverse to be a test for ascension. Of course, this isn't physical violence (it's never physical violence), just a dead loathing and resentment for another philosophy. Of course, the majority of the faction really just doesn't care.
