Volume XL: Faith, Tradition, and Fate—the Ways of the Nova Cat

And in her vision the wolf howled, But the nova cat paced steadily on, Undisturbed by the petty battles Others fought, trying to cage it within the bars of Thoughtless sameness. The nova cat gazed Straight ahead, its heart and mind devoted to The Ways of Seeing, devoted to a more perfect life. —The Remembrance (Clan Nova Cat), Passage 50, 5:26-32

The innovations first enacted by Khan Sandra Rosse founded what today is widely known as Nova Cat mysticism. Lacking a god—unless one is presumptuous enough to attach divinity to the whims of fate—this system of beliefs has become a religion, of a sense, that bears no true name, yet seems to borrow from the faiths of more ancient cultures on Terra. The cornerstone to this belief comes from the Ways of Seeing, a collected journal of Anna and Sandra Rosse’s mystical experiences, as well as a guide to performing both personal and communal rituals. Over the decades following the Clan’s foundation, belief in these rituals has grown to the point where an overwhelming majority of the Nova Cats’ warrior caste, and even the civilian classes, profess their unswerving devotion to the Ways.

Yet, to presume this Clan favors the path of mysticism to the Way of the Clans, even after their Abjuration in 3060, would be a grave error. The Nova Cats still invoke the familiar practices of the various Clan Trials to resolve disputes and political debates. They still raise their best and brightest in the iron wombs, and the Bloodname represents one of the ultimate achievements for the warrior class.

The Ways of Seeing, however, add a deeper sense of culture to their militaristic lifestyle, particularly among the warrior caste. It was for the warriors originally, after all, that the Rite of the Vision was developed, and for the warriors only that the Oathmaster Grand Melee, the Chronicle of Battles, and the Ritual of Battle, are intended.

The Rite of the Vision, a core practice of the Nova Cat faith, is the ceremony in which the individual Nova Cat may glimpse a vision of the future that will help guide the Clan to glory. Initially regarded as a warriors-only rite, in the aftermath of the Abjuration, the conflicts that followed, and the dark years of the Jihad itself there was a profound expansion of the Rite to include the lower castes. Today, merchants have been known to seek visions to guide them in business dealings, scientists consult the flames for a glimpse of new possibilities and inspiration, and even the members of the technician and labor castes occasionally undertake the Rite in an effort to guide their path and better help their Clan.

The ritual itself is simple in approach. After a period of fasting, lasting anywhere from three days to a week, the body is brought to its limits of physical endurance. At the end of this time, the Nova Cat will sit before a bonfire with his accumulated vineers—trophies or other small mementos of a past battle or other career-defining moment.

As the Nova Cat stares into the flames, considering his past and his future, he feeds the flame with his vineers, most typically under the guidance of the Oathmaster (or, in the case of lesser castes, an approved lower-caste deputy of the Oathmaster). The goal of this exercise is, of course, to see a vision of the future in the flames, a vision that is then interpreted by the presiding Oathmaster.

The sacredness of the rite is so great that there has never been a known, documented case of any Nova Cat lying about the results, if any. No shame is typically attached to failing to receive a vision, in part because the sacrifice of vineers bestows glory to the Nova Cat willing to do so. At the same time, no Nova Cat is barred from attempting to seek multiple visions (though the practice of sacrificing vineers, which are collected during many career-defining events throughout one’s life, does put a practical limit on such attempts). It is said, in fact, that Santin West, the Khan who would lead his Clan to its defection and sanctuary in the Draconis Combine during the Clan Wars, sought as many as five visions in his lifetime, the most ever attempted under the guidance of an Oathmaster. His visions, according to the Nova Cat Remembrance, led to the Clan’s change in allegiance and inevitable relocation to the Inner Sphere.

Other forms of the Rite of the Vision do exist, however, on a more personal level. Used by warriors or lesser castemen who lack the vineers or cannot obtain the services of a recognized Oathmaster, these more private rites follow much the same routine, but the visions they yield often produce much more cryptic results—if any come at all—and are open to the interpretations of the vision seeker alone.

The Oathmaster Grand Melee, another vital part of Nova Cat mysticism, is the Clan’s yearly Trial to decide who will hold the title of the Clan’s Oathmaster. Held on the longest day of the year in the capital city of New Barcella, on Irece, the Oathmaster Grand Melee begins like a Grand Melee fought during a Trial of Bloodright. It is open to everyone in the Clan, regardless of caste, and is held in a massive Circle of Equals, where participants fight unaugmented (without weapons). The winner from this Circle of Equals then must prove his or her knowledge of Clan law, the Nova Cat Remembrance, and the traditions of the Clan, in the Forum of Law. If the winner of the Circle of Equals fails the test in the Forum of Law, then the last opponent he or she defeated in the Circle receives a chance in the Forum. If this second individual fails in the Forum, however, the standing Oathmaster retains the post for another year.

The Chronicle of Battles and the Ritual of Battle are variants on the same theme, and remain exclusively linked to the warrior caste. In both cases, warriors of a given unit (for the Ritual, a unit about to see combat) meet at a designated location at local midnight, outdoors if possible. There, before a roaring bonfire, and to the twenty beats of a ceremonial drum (one beat for each Clan founded by Nicholas Kerensky), the warriors, clad in ceremonial leathers, recount tales of past battles and victories of the Nova Cat Clan. The tales are told in ritualistic fashion, in the same oral tradition as the Remembrance, and their telling is intended to inspire and unite the gathered warriors.

The Ritual of Battle differs from this standard by including elements of the Rite of the Vision, with warriors fasting for days beforehand in the hopes of seeing a vision in the flames. In addition, the Ritual of Battle also incorporates an elaborate dance around the bonfire, on a loud bandstand that acts as a counterpoint to the rhythm of the twenty drumbeats, and even the presence of a live nova cat, which is seen as a focus of bonding for the gathered warriors. In rare instances, the ring of warriors undertaking the Ritual of Battle is further surrounded by a ring of BattleMechs, which provide a striking, larger-than-life backdrop for the ceremony.

Ironically, despite their formal exile from their fellow Clans, the Nova Cats remain as deeply devoted to the ways of the Clan as they are to their Ways of Seeing. Indeed, they even seem to celebrate the various Clanwide holidays, such as Liberation Day (26 May, commemorating the day the last of the Pentagon worlds fell to the Clans), and Founding Day (24 August, commemorating when the Exodus fleet first reached the Pentagon worlds in 2786), more fervently than their former brethren do. In addition, the Nova Cats also recognize Homecoming Day (1 May), commemorating their final return to the Inner Sphere as a people, rather than an invader. A period of solemn reflection and thanksgiving, Homecoming Day perhaps embodies the greatest nobility of this Clan, as well as its devotion to the ongoing cause of living beside the peoples of the Inner Sphere in peace.

In part three, our tour of the Nova Cat Clan will look at the Abjuration of this noble Clan, and its survival through some of the darkest years since Stefan Amaris. I’m Bertram Habeas.