The Spider Cult

The Cult of the Spider is the oldest living religion in the world as well as the most widespread. While it originated in the southern continent it quickly spread far and wide, usurping the religions of many regions of the world. It holds sway over the southern and eastern continents and has a healthy following in the north and among all the many islands in between. Even in the western continent it has seen its spread, though the Spider Cult’s influence is greatly lessened there due to the government’s dim views on reanimation. The Cult of the Spider is the original source of the schools of magic known as necromancy and reanimation. Many of their magically capable priests are knowledgeable in one or both of these arts as the dead are sacred in their religion. Their patron goddess, the Fateweaver, is an enormous spider spirit that resides within the astral realm and is said to use her vast, world-spanning web to capture the souls of the dead before they pass on to oblivion, saving them from annihilation so that they may be communed with by mortals or even brought back as sacred undead. The religion itself has a strong emphasis on the community and one’s role within it. It teaches a collectivist mindset in which all members are conceptualized as strands that, through their emotional and dutiful connections to one another, create a large and strong web that holds society together. No single strand is more important than any other as all are needed to make the whole. This philosophy is reflected in the Spider Cult’s hierarchy. Priests and priestesses are called Spinners, and there are no higher ranks than this one. Power within the temple is then determined by seniority, with the eldest spinner being called First Spinner and being tasked with much of the managerial duties in the temple, including delegating certain responsibilities to other spinners. While each temple has its own First Spinner though, the temple in Khem-Ra is seen as the center of the great web they’ve woven over the world. The central temple is commanded by the Silk-Mother, who is said to commune directly with the spider goddess personally and acts as her divine voice in the world. She may choose an Exalted Executioner, the only being in Khem-Ra with the authority to execute a member of the undead aristocracy in the nation, as well as commands a host of vampires still loyal to the temple who have been charged to hunt and execute their wayward brothers and sisters. Her power is absolute, as is the power of the temple and the Spider Cult.

Type

Religious, Organised Religion

Subsidiary Organizations