Divinity Within

The Divinity Within was a monastic cult within Constantinople under the supervision of the Tzimisce. Originally under the sway of the Dracon, the leadership and veneration went later on to Gesu, childe of the great Methuselah. The order of ghouled monks that practiced the ways of the Within was called the Akoimetai, later Gesudians. From them, the Obertus Revenants would later form.

Doctrine
The monastic orders of the Divinity Within were strong promoters of the worship of icons (who often depicted famous Tzimisce) and were further tasked with maintaining the Library of the Forgotten. Vicissitude was regarded with a spiritual reverence, as the touch of God among the flesh of the damned. Only through prayer, torture and fasting the discipline was used, believe to manifest the Communion Within. The followers of the Divinity Within often locked themselves into fasting cages, starving themselves to Frenzy and receiving strange vision afterwards that were believed to be portents of the Within. Further, the human body was believed to be incomplete, following the creation of Eve from Adam’s rip. To overcome this limitation, the Immaculate Union was devised, in which a person of the opposing gender would be fused with the body of the monk via Vicissitude. It was also believed that only a strict adherence to the tenets of Christ can allow the practitioner to achieve transcendence, as the Divinity Within is still under the control of God and only He can unlock it.

Fate
The practices of the Divinity Within nearly vanished following the sacking of Constantinople in 1204. The Obertus, however, managed to preserve many traditions of the Akoimetai and included them into their own culture.