Order of the Sand Spider
The Order of the Sand Spider, despite the innocuous name, is an underground cult in the service of the chaotic evil god Set. As the god of rage and ruin, murder and devastation, all the other gods worked together to imprison him eons ago. The Order work to free him, knowing that every act of devastation committed in his name, every blow against civilisation, lends him strength and brings him that much closer to breaking free of his prison.
The cult has existed for many thousands of years, waxing and waning in strength, but always hidden in the shadows and working to bring down everything that is built. Those that know of it fear it, and when war breaks out between neighbouring tribes, or a well is found destroyed or an oasis fouled, they look for the footprints of the Order. Their very secretiveness lends them power, for even when they are not responsible for an evil act, they are believed to be; thus increasing fear of the cult.
In the wider world they are known as the Servants of Dusk, a cult that worships Rawhn, but the worshippers in the Desert of Desolation know him by the name that they have used for millennia. Hidden temples lie beneath the sands in many locations, most abandoned but some still in use. Whatever name the cult is known by, they see themselves as ushering in the Night of the Wyld, an event of all-encompassing darkness as Rawhn/Set escapes from his prison, which will remove all laws and limits. Only the strong will survive and prosper, and only by the might of their own hands.
The active temples of the cult may murder victims to make blood sacrifices, or throw items of value and import into portals to Rawhn's realm or otherwise destroy them, with the act giving greater strength to Set as the item's loss is more keenly felt. Thus, the destruction of a decanter of endless water in a desert temple would have greater effect than in a seaside temple.
The cult frequently makes use of zombies and snakes to guard temples, and cultists wear red and black robes - plain black with red sashes for low-level cultists, with the quantity of red increasing with rank. The high priest of the temple wears a red robe with a black sash. In addition to the cultists who hide during the day as ordinary citizens, each temple has a number of trained warriors as guards and usually at least one assassin. The priests and acolytes usually have day jobs out in the community completely unrelated to their clerical abilities, which they keep hidden. For example, Corga Kazan, leader of the cult in the Oasis of the White Palm, masquerades as a water bearer while Hartis Hannen, high priest of the temple hidden in the Borderlands outside Senarr Keep, played the role of a sage.
While warlocks of Rawhn have full access to their spell list, most clerics of Rawhn/Set only have access to spells up to third level, granted by Rawhn's servitors. However, the closer Rawhn is to breaking free, the more powerful the spells he is able to grant to his followers. His cult uses this to gain an idea of how close they are to achieving their goals.
The cult has existed for many thousands of years, waxing and waning in strength, but always hidden in the shadows and working to bring down everything that is built. Those that know of it fear it, and when war breaks out between neighbouring tribes, or a well is found destroyed or an oasis fouled, they look for the footprints of the Order. Their very secretiveness lends them power, for even when they are not responsible for an evil act, they are believed to be; thus increasing fear of the cult.
In the wider world they are known as the Servants of Dusk, a cult that worships Rawhn, but the worshippers in the Desert of Desolation know him by the name that they have used for millennia. Hidden temples lie beneath the sands in many locations, most abandoned but some still in use. Whatever name the cult is known by, they see themselves as ushering in the Night of the Wyld, an event of all-encompassing darkness as Rawhn/Set escapes from his prison, which will remove all laws and limits. Only the strong will survive and prosper, and only by the might of their own hands.
The active temples of the cult may murder victims to make blood sacrifices, or throw items of value and import into portals to Rawhn's realm or otherwise destroy them, with the act giving greater strength to Set as the item's loss is more keenly felt. Thus, the destruction of a decanter of endless water in a desert temple would have greater effect than in a seaside temple.
The cult frequently makes use of zombies and snakes to guard temples, and cultists wear red and black robes - plain black with red sashes for low-level cultists, with the quantity of red increasing with rank. The high priest of the temple wears a red robe with a black sash. In addition to the cultists who hide during the day as ordinary citizens, each temple has a number of trained warriors as guards and usually at least one assassin. The priests and acolytes usually have day jobs out in the community completely unrelated to their clerical abilities, which they keep hidden. For example, Corga Kazan, leader of the cult in the Oasis of the White Palm, masquerades as a water bearer while Hartis Hannen, high priest of the temple hidden in the Borderlands outside Senarr Keep, played the role of a sage.
While warlocks of Rawhn have full access to their spell list, most clerics of Rawhn/Set only have access to spells up to third level, granted by Rawhn's servitors. However, the closer Rawhn is to breaking free, the more powerful the spells he is able to grant to his followers. His cult uses this to gain an idea of how close they are to achieving their goals.
Symbol of the dark god Rawhn by Geoff Hancock
Type
Religious, Cult
Comments