| Author: | Clinton R. Nixon and Keith Senkowski |
|---|---|
| Date: | February 2, 2005 |
| Copyright: | This work is copyright 2004 Clinton R. Nixon. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, California 94305, USA. |
| Colophon: | This document was created using DocTools. |
This supplement is intended to bring more horror and religion to your game of The Shadow of Yesterday. It focuses on the cults that fill the world of Near, each claiming to know a universal truth.
In a world with no gods, who will you worship?
Just because there are canonically no gods in the world of Near doesn't mean there's not something more powerful than any human. People will always find something to dedicate their lives to, something to worship. Organized in a group, people can barely help coming up with the idea of God. And what's more powerful than an idea?
Nothing in the world.
The elven belief that one dreams the world he lives in is not so far off the mark, even if it results in some weird dudes. If enough people have the same belief, the same idea, the same faith, that faith has a power over mankind. It is an inexorable force that can change lives, for better or worse. And thus, even if the object of worship doesn't exist, it is real.
Because this is a fantasy game, right?
An important matter when creating beliefs and cults in The Shadow of Yesterday, or any other game, is that no one puts their faith in something that they believe is incorrect or evil. That doesn't mean they aren't incorrect or evil, but they certainly don't think so. There are plenty of reasons for someone of unsure faith to join a religion, though. Some people join it because of societal pressure; some join because they're looking for anything to believe in. Remember that they don't truly put faith in it unless they feel that it is correct and good.
As for starting a cult, plenty of people will do that even if they know its tenets are incorrect. In that case, though, the tenets are good for them. If they truly believe the tenets are right, then they think that they are also good. Evil overlords that are evil just for the sake of it are for movies and videogames, not good stories.
All Secrets in The Shadow of Yesterday must be learned by observation or teaching. All Secrets listed in the main rulebook, though, are common. They are assumed to be so prevalent that anyone can learn them easily.
Not so with the Secrets in Yesterday's Heresies. The Secrets within are very specific to their cults and cannot be learned unless taught by someone who already knows them. Some of these Secrets are taught to all cult members, and are pretty easy for any player's character to pick up. Others are known only by one or two people in the world, and they aren't sharing the knowledge.
This article originally appeared, written by Keith Senkowski, in the great online RPG magazine Daedalus. It has been edited and modified by Clinton R. Nixon. If you like culty goodness, be sure to check out Keith's game, Conspiracy of Shadows.
One of the most familiar aspects of the horror genre is the mysterious cult. These cults sometimes worship evil known to mankind, such as the Revenant Cult of Ammeni that worships their long-lived House Father. Other times they serve unknown forces, such as the Ratkin cult of the "Pack Rats."
Horror role-playing games are no exception to this. However, cults in games are often only loosely detailed. We present you with a step-by-step guide to create a cult and implement it in the world of Near, or any other setting you may play in.
The first step in designing a cult is defining what it is. A cult is a religion or religious sect that generally considered by society to be extremist or even false. Often, cult memberships includes zealots under the leadership of a charismatic leader who may or may not believe in the precepts of the cult. Generally cults try to keep their existence secret, and they worship a supernatural entity with a variety of rituals, garments, and other religious trappings.
Now that we have a basic idea what a cult is, we can begin to fill in the details. Developing a cult leader is the primary step in the creation of your cult. You must determine who he is and what his agenda is. Is he merely human or does he truly command eldritch forces? Is there a reason for his forming of the cult, or is he merely a tool for some sort of outside influence? Finally, does he actually believe in the precepts of the cult, or is it just a cover for other actions?
Example
Boris Piast leads the Cult of the Red God. He is a man, like any other, but within him is an unquenchable desire for personal power. He formed the cult to further his ends, but he does not actually believe in the cult's tenets because he invented them to draw in members from the upper echelons of Maldor's soldiers and strategists.
Once you answer the questions above, move on to determining the purpose of the cult. This is perhaps the most important thing to decide. It influences how the cult will be used in the game, its methods, and even the membership. What is the cult's ultimate goal? Are they trying to conquer the world? Are they seeking to bring about a second apocalypse? Perhaps they seek some sort of self-enlightenment or to enlighten the world? Is their apparent purpose the true purpose of the cult or simply a cover for the leader's true desires?
Example
The stated goal of the Cult of the Red God is to awaken the ancient Lord of the Blood Dawn, Kerbasi the Red God. Boris claims to the direct descendant of Kerbasi, an ancient warlord of Maldor whose blade was never sheathed unless it drank the blood of his enemies. This is, of course, a cover for Boris' desire for temporal power. There is no ancient Lord of the Blood Dawn, and the rituals are all invented or perverted from old pagan sun worship. His true intentions are to bring Maldor to a boiling point of war, weakening the current leaders, and then use his members to seize power of the entire land for himself.
After you determine the driving force for the cult, you must next decide upon its precepts. The precepts are the belief structure for which all of the actions of the cult's members are based. Are they complicated? Do they fill tomes or are they very simple? Do they have some sort of logical basis, or are they utterly irrational?
Example
The precepts for the Cult of the Red God are very simple and suit the needs of the cult's leader.
- Power is in the death of your enemies.
- Kerbasi rewards those who take what they desire.
- Kerbasi punishes those who fail in his service.
- Kerbasi's descendants are the living embodiment of his will.
- You must never speak of Kerbasi's will to unbelievers.
- Through purging the land of the unpure, Kerbasi will rise and rule Maldor again.
At this point, the cult should be taking a recognizable form. The leader and his agenda are now established. So is the apparent purpose of the cult, as well as its true purpose, if there is one. Also, the precepts have been laid down as a guide for the members. The next step is determining the membership of the cult and how members are recruited.
Each cult has a different make-up. Is your cult made up entirely of members of the same ethnic, socio-economic group or occupation? Perhaps it is more broad based and open to everyone? What common need does the cult fulfill for its members? Does it offer them power, wealth, or perhaps spiritual fulfillment? Also, how are new members recruited? Do all members actively bring others into the fold or is the leader the only recruiter?
Example
The Cult of the Red God is made primarily of people in the upper levels of the military or government. These members hold positions of power and wealth. Boris uses them to covertly gain power throughout the lands of Maldor. To them, the cult is a way to maintain and expand upon this power.
There is a small contingent of members who come from the lower levels of society, being revolutionaries. This contingent is kept separate from the upper-class contingent. Their purpose in the cult is to enact Boris' will. To them the cult is a means to move up in society and gain power for themselves.
Only Boris is allowed to recruit people into the cult. However, he has two trusted lieutenants, Maria and Vincente, that search all levels of society for prospective members. They bring those individuals to Boris' attention, and he decides if they are proper candidates for membership.
The creation of this cult dynamic immediately lends itself to asking questions about the cult's resources and influence in society. What kind of resources can the cult call upon? Can it draw from a vast pool of wealth, or is it limited to more guerilla-style tactics? Where does its influence in society lie? Can it affect things on a global or national level, or is it limited to a smaller venue like a county or a town? Perhaps its influence is strictly within a specific organization or series of organizations.
Example
The Cult of the Red God has a vast store of resources. It can call upon the wealth and power of many members. More powerfully, it can call upon its upper-class members to advise Maldor's rulers on military strategies that benefit the cult. It can also rely upon the muscle of those members who have a lower station in society, using them for dissent and revolutionary actions.
Its primary influence is in the upper echelons of regional society, but it has begun to delve into criminal activities. Boris has recruited several key individuals locally that have ties to criminal organizations. He seeks to expand the cult to cover Maldor like a vast web with him at its center.
You should determine the organization of the cult should next. What is the hierarchy of the cult? Is there one central group beneath the leader or several? Are there multiple groups fighting each other within the organization, or are they cooperating? Finally, are there multiple cults all following the same leader or just one singular cult?
Example
Boris leads the Cult of the Red God alone. However, he has broken down the organization into a vast web with different levels of responsibility for members. Directly beneath him are his two trusted lieutenants, Maria and Vicente. Vicente directs the activities of those who are already in positions of power. Maria directs those members who are in the lower levels of society. Beneath these lieutenants members are broken down into small cells of shared interest, usually numbering no more than ten members.
You must also address the the cult's secrecy. In order for a cult to be an effective subversive organization in a society it must maintain this secrecy. Does the cult use a series of hand signs, ciphers or symbols known only to the cult? Do they pass messages with these signs, or do they use a dead language? Do they shroud their identity from each other with masks or hoods, or do their mark they allegiance with tattoos or particular articles of clothing?
Example
The cult maintains its secrecy in three ways. First, all communication is done verbally using coded phrases that are taught to all members, but only to individuals who wear a ruby signet ring with an etching of a hand upon it. (The lower-class revolutionary members use a different mark, each carrying a small pendant with a red hand painted upon it.) Second, no member knows anyone outside their cell besides the lieutenant who oversees their activities and Boris, who recruited them. Finally, those who are foolish enough to let their knowledge slip or are caught by outsiders are eliminated.
Now that you've created the cult, you must introduce it to the world of Near. Simply creating a situation in which the protagonists of the game and the cult's desires meet at a crossroads does this. It can be as simple as having an important character kidnapped by the cult, or by staging overt attacks against the protagonists by obvious cult members. However, direct conflict may take away some of the fun of creating a secret organization if there is no discovery.
By using subtle methods, the introduction of a cult can build tension, add an air of mystery, and create great "eureka" moments for the story. This will take patience and a sense of pacing. You must have an understanding of the story so far, as well as what the players want to explore and how they will react to various situations.
You can start by subtly introducing the signs or symbols that the cult utilizes to communicate. They can appear in passing as graffiti on buildings, on scraps of paper or even as tattoos of known associates. However, they shouldn't be everywhere and on everything. They should only appear from time to time so as not to rouse too much suspicion.
Once the protagonists become accustomed to these signs as simply another part of the game's scenery, you can start to show the darker side of the organization. Have it appear as a part of a moral crime or travesty, such as near a corpse of one of their allies. Another interesting place to use a symbol is as part of some plot to thwart their efforts, such as on a warrant for their arrest. These actions will rouse suspicion and can either be dropped in to add to the confusion, or, if the time is right, lead the game into a whole new direction with the protagonists now trying to ferret out this new unseen threat.
Although The Shadow of Yesterday is a sword-and-sorcery game, a cult is powerful tool in any setting. It can be a one-shot group of villains, a part of a larger conspiracy, or even as the protagonists' primary enemy. A well thought out and detailed cult used wisely can add new dimensions to any role-playing game that contains horror.
The original empire of Maldor was defined by its worship of the sun as deity. The sun gave light and life to all things and was venerated as such. The original worship was personal and communal in nature; small invocations were given before a meal, for example. As the empire grew, worship was formalized and gave birth to a priestly class. The Emperor Absolon was designated the sun's champion on Near, and became an object of worship himself. The trappings of sun worship can still be found in Maldor, including broken churches, usually designed with no roof and a structure that was aligned with sunrise and sunset.
The Time of Shadow and death of Absolon caused great doubt and despair in Maldor. As people rose to rebuild, the common faith became one of an omnipotent natural force to a belief in holy rebirth, symbolized by the coming of the moon - a sign of evil and fear - and the sun's dominance over it. Eclipses are particularly holy, as the sun is covered in battle with the moon and then conquers it completely, rising from its beaten corpse. This tale of rebirth has encapsulated the worship of Absolon, and the belief that Absolon will rise again like the sun has been cultivated by the ruling class.
As Maldor is divided and conquered by various lords, most of them have designated themselves the new vessel of the sun, Absolon-Come-Again. This is evident in their titles, which have themes of the sun. Charles of the Zenith and Phillipe the Dawn-Breaker are two examples. State worship is often enforced by blade and taxes are taken directly from the collections of these new churches. Their priests are as much political and military leaders as clergy.
The proletariat has not completely bought into these new myths and have reverted to the primitive personal rites for true worship, although they participate in the state worship. Rustic sun pastors travel across the land, poor in coin but not in spirit, ministering to those that need them, preaching of a time when the true Sun Emperor will rise again.
When the night has fallen over Maldor and the moon is high, cultist revelers gather in secret lairs. Joined in their worship of the Shadow Moon, that sign of destruction over the world, they perform dark rites. To these worshippers, the moon is not a malignant force; it is a message of transformation. It is the sign of the Queen of Shadow and her worshippers are the Shadow Cult.
The Shadow Cult has no leader. Like the reigning monarchies of Maldor, it is fragmented and sects compete for power fiercely. They are all dedicated to the downfall of the Sun Rulers. They differ wildly in what they would replace them with. Some want a theocracy, with the an appointed Queen of Shadow and her priestesses as rulers; some want a socialist utopia.
The theology of the cult varies as well. The largest schism is over the Queen, who many claim to be a true goddess in the form of a human who walks the earth. Others find the moon itself to be their object of veneration, calling for womankind to rise up and take power to the people. Common precepts of a worship group are:
The cult accepts users of Three-Corner Magic. The focus of Enthrallment is frowned upon and the use of it against another cult member is grounds for death.
Priesthood in the cult is held only by women. There is no formal process for becoming a priestess; the cult is not nearly well organized enough for that. It is pervasive, though, and is a real force for change in the land of Maldor. It is organized into small groups with usually ten or less worshippers in a cell. Men are admitted as worshippers. In most groups, however, they are treated as second-class parishioners and are not allowed to have input into the worldly activities of the cult. Unlike most human societies in Maldor, the cult accepts Ratkin, although not all groups are as enlightened on this point. There is a separate sub-cult of the Shadow Cult among the Ratkin. They give worship to the Queen of Shadow, but to them, she is a female ratkin with many teats, bright-grey and beautiful.
Typical worship of the Shadow Cult involves chanting and dance under the full moon, often in the nude; fertility rites which vary from drinking menstrual blood from a shared cup to full-on drug-fueled orgastic ceremonies during eclipses; and in some cases human sacrifice, always of males with a preference for virgins. Many of the male worshippers come for the free sex and find themselves involved in something more bloody than they imagined.
Typical temporal activities of the Shadow Cult include the seduction of minor lords to bring them into the cult and claim power, sedition and education among Maldor's youth, and terrorist actions against the military and aristocracy. Beyond this, the cult is dedicated to improving the life of women throughout Maldor and move to protect battered or oppressed women through force, and sometimes obtain violent revenge. Many of the cult's members have some knowledge of midwifery, and they have perfected the knowledge of abortion. They will take in any woman with an unwanted pregnancy and get rid of the fetus. It is rumored among the people of Maldor that these fetuses are used for secret rites, sacrificing them and even devouring them for power. This is probably only a rumor.
Cult members move among the people of Maldor with ease. There are some signifiers, however. Crescent-shaped marks or tattoos on the skin are common among members, although usually hidden. Silver, a precious metal only found in the high mountains of western Maldor, is holy to the cult and members will wear jewelry made of it.
The Knives of Silver are a regional group of the Shadow Cult. They operate in north-western Maldor, straddling the holdings of two lords, Charles of the Zenith and Phillipe the Dawnbreaker. Their leader, Catherine, is a powerful woman, although small in stature. She is rumored to be the child of a Zaru mother and Maldorite father. It is well known that she loathes men, especially those from Maldor. Almost all male cult members are of foreign heritage.
The cult holds small ceremonies made up of a few members throughout the month to focus and discuss activities. The entire cult meets on the full moon to share the silver cup filled with the monthly blood of the priestesses. On the eclipse, Catherine sacrifices a male, the more powerful the better. In this ceremony, all holy warriors of the cult wash their knives in the blood of the victim, imbuing the knives temporarily with power.
A young priestess, Melody, has been recently defying Catherine's wishes and engaging in subterfuge of her own. She wishes to bring down the court of Phillipe and is using her seduction to do it. She has engaged Phillipe's advisor, Visla the elf, in carnal activities. Catherine is unhappy, thinking that Melody is too inexperienced to take on such a task, especially since it involves a powerful elf that might turn her inside out to amuse himself.
Unknown to her followers, Catherine has made a deal with Charles of the Zenith. His rangers will not disrupt the actions of her cult as long as she continues to harass Phillipe. As the Knives do operate within Charles' domain, it is uncertain why he allows her so much leeway.
The reign of Absolon did more for astronomy than any other science. As his royal astronomers divined the existence of eight stars that moved unlike any other, he tasked them to find the meaning of these. One was assigned to each star and they consulted with their findings until they came up with a radical idea.
This idea: these were not stars at all. They were the servants of the Sun Lord, marching in his heavenly court, each tasked to oversee part of his kingdom. Even more radical, they believed that Near was a servant like these, spinning in an endless celestial dance. The royal geomancer was enlisted as one of these eight, and they formed a society dedicated to the heavenly reign of the Sun and the terrestrial reign of Absolon, one and the same. When Absolon took too much power and brought the foreign sorcerer Hanish to his side, the Nine struck with all their might to end his reign. They were hung for their treachery and fed to pigs.
Three hundred years later, their knowledge lives on in the Secret Society of the Celestial Nine. The Nine are dedicated to the restoration of a Sun King over Maldor and will stop at nothing to achieve that.
The leader of the Society of the Nine is always called Near. He fills the ancient spot of the royal geomancer, which was also the royal doctor, as the life of the Emperor was considered to be tied to the life of the world. His role is to chair the Nine in their Orbit, as they call the eternal plan of the world. Below him are the eight other Celestials. Their name and roles are:
Each of these roles is filled by one person at a time. This person is taught secret knowledges and given potent weapons to fulfill his role. In the case that a member of the Nine passes, two of the Nine are tasked to find a replacement and initiate him. This person can come from any strata of society. This person is almost always a man, and almost always from Maldor.
The Nine believe that the new Emperor, the new Sun King, has not been found. In each generation, there is one man fit to fill this role in their theology. Their goal is to seek him and guide him to rise to power. The cult has never succeeded in this goal, perhaps because they all have different ideas about who the true king is. They believe the following things about the Sun King:
Their secondary goal derives from the above: no man unworthy shall led Maldor. The Nine have toppled rulers that have come close to uniting Maldor before and will do so again.
The Nine Celestials usually have access to immense power. At least one of them at any time is very wealthy, and at least one of them is a high-ranking member of Maldorite society. In addition, their physical weapons and armor, crafted over the years, are very powerful. They are not sworn to secrecy in their role, but are assumed to exercise discretion. Revealing part of their secrets to one person is one thing; revealing the cult to a crowd is another.
The sign of the Nine is a telescope. Each of them carries one. As the secret of optics is lost to the world of Near, this is a rare and valuable gift and denotes that the person with one is one of the Nine or has taken it from one of them.
Each of the Nine have one or more powerful items that help them fill their roles. All these items are made with the Secret of Imbuement, which I'm taking the time to greater explain here. Not only can you make an item work as a weapon or armor with the Secret of Imbuement, but you can use it to make any Secret reliant on you possessing the item. This Secret can have its costs lowered by one pool point, although it doesn't have to. The item can be taken away from you, but you must be given a chance to get it back, or you can roll your spent Imbuement into a new item. You can take away someone else's Imbued item, but you'll have to pay the original cost to keep it. After each of these items, a cost, in Imbuement advances, is listed.
If the Sun King is ever crowned, all the fabulous items of the Nine will be given unto him.
The burglar stole down the hallway on padded feet, inching closer to the trophy room. This is one lucky job, he thought. Charles' coffers are full of platinum, and those Ratkin paid me a nice sum to plant this bomb. The satchel full of explosive sat on his hip, its potential making him nervous.
He only had about five more seconds on the lock when he heard voices shout out. "Halt there!" one of the men yelled.
Ok. There's two of them, Devlin thought. If I jump against the far wall, I can catch one with my foot. The other one, I'll throw this sack at. Should be good to go. He rocked on the balls of his feet and leapt into action.
His face was slammed into the ground, his assailant's arm even faster than his trained body. "I said halt!" the big one yelled. "Damnit, do not show us your face!"
The thief had a broken tooth now and tasted blood.
"This one would do nicely, don't you think?" said the huge guy with his foot on Devlin's neck.
"Um-hm," agreed the weird little guy all in black.
"Are you loyal to the Empire of the Sun?" asked the really heavy guy as Devlin became less and less comfortable. He tried to turn his head to agree, anything seeming better than this. "I said, do not show me your face!" yelled Charles. "Are you sure this one's smart enough, Far?"
The man in black whispered, "He has been chosen."
"Really, loyal to the Sun. I promise," whined Devlin.
The little man pulled a sack tight over the thief's face, securing it with a noose of string. "Welcome to the Nine, Enchiridion."
The current Enchiridion is a small-time thief named Devlin Carter, once loyal to a motley group of Ratkin and poor rebels. He combined political terrorism with a nice sideline in royal robbery to keep himself comfortable. Caught by Charles of the Zenith, the current Masako, and Far during an attempt to bomb Charles' keep, he has been trained and become a full member of the Nine. No one has ever asked him why he had a bomb when he was apprehended.
Devlin is ambivalent about his new role. He has used the Mask to great effect and has brought down two would-be rulers of Maldor during his time. So far, it has been very convenient how well the wants of his old friends and the wants of the Nine have meshed. When they cease to, he will have some hard choices to make.
Deep in the swamps of Ammeni, poisoners and healers alike study ancient tomes and conduct bizarre experiments, each hoping to find the secret to eternal life. They are the Revenant Cult, and they worship an entity they call the House Father, the mythical man who fathered the first Seven, the ancestors of the current House leaders. He is said to have found this secret, and gained immortality and unlimited power.
Saul Lenoir leads the Revenant Cult. At least, that's the name he goes by. Saul is impossibly old, and could be anyone, including the House Father. He does not tell the followers of the cult who he is, though. Instead, he perpetuates the belief that the original House Father is still alive, and he represents him. He has formed the cult for two reasons. The first is to supply him with a power structure that will do anything for the mythical Father. (Saul needs to consume human flesh to live, and they provide it for him easily.) The second is to research his condition and prevent anyone else from finding out the secrets of immortality.
The stated goal of the Revenant Cult is to find the secret of immortality. In reality, Saul has found it many years ago. He has lived for at least two hundred years, and possibly much, much longer. By consuming a hellish mixture of Qek araka and Ammenite black poiture, combined with a wallop of necromancy, he does not age. His body wants to decay, though, and he must consume a good pound or two of live human flesh daily to stay alive and healthy. He does want to find a way to make his immortality permanent without these drawbacks, but more importantly, he wants to keep his secret to himself.
The Revenant Cult recruits from the ranks of poisoners, healers, and arcanists. These people receive the benefit of much research and access to rare materials, as well as something to believe in. In addition, these people enact Saul's will through poisoning or capturing those he wants eliminated. He tries very hard to keep the seven Houses in conflict with each other, so they cannot find out how to become immortal themselves. He fears competition immensely.
The precepts they are taught:
The cult is organized in a mentor-student structure. Each member has a mentor he reports to, and each member except the lowest ranks have students they mentor. Each mentor is given one to five students, with more students for higher ranking members. Recruitment is done by mentors; once you have achieved the third rank of knowledge, you are allowed to recruit. Saul himself has seven students, one in each House, plus his faithful companion, Akhkharu, a female Zaru. She is the only one of his students that knows his secret, and is immortal herself. Her curse is much stronger, though, and she generally consumes one live person, flesh and blood, each day. She is his enforcer, and a visit from her usually spells death. If the victim is lucky, she consumes him in one meal.
The cult's top students have been taught a different concoction than Saul's. It is able to animate bodies without a soul, which the cult uses as slaves. For the first week or so after death, the animation is pretty believable, and sometimes these zombies will be used to infiltrate the Houses. This concoction may have been perfected by Akhkharu, and two of the House Council may have been changed, according to cult rumor.
Secrecy in the cult is enforced by death. If any member is found to have revealed the cult, he is killed, along with his mentor, his students, and any students below them.
to do
to do
Collectors of zu.
A resistance movement, committed to non-violence.
Destroy the world.
Worshippers of King Khale.
Revelers in moon-metal.
These guys are what's left of the older culture that used the ancient ziggurats in the jungle. They collect souls to be their slaves in the afterlife.
These elves believe they are all one person. They are fucking crazy.
These goblins also believe they can become one person. One giant, terrifying Godzilla-goblin person. They can.
Collectors of ancient magical secrets. They believe ratkin are here to purge humanity of terrible gifts it cannot handle.