The Cults of The Dragon Below [Archive] - Wizards Community

The Cults of The Dragon Below [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Hrt
02-21-07, 10:02 PM Let me just say that I love the concept. I think they could have used a longer write-up in Faiths of Eberron, mabey leaving out ther Seren dragon cults.

Anyway, I just wanted to make a thread for discussion of these cults. I've done a little work on the mourning circle mentioned in FOE, turning them from a one-dungeon crawl encounter to a main campaign adversary, any thoughts?

The Circle Ascending
Erlomel d'Tharashk's cult in the Khyber's Gate district of Sharn has grow a lot in the past few months. The addition of more then a few aberrant dragonmarked individuals, an artificer, and an influx of cash from various criminal activities has made him much more powerful.

Erlomel has deciphered more of the wizard's notes and, after several setbacks, has succesfully created brood leaches. Eight female cult members are now nearly full-term with Daelkyr half-bloods, and he has high hopes for them.

His greatest success, however, was the discovery of a tentacle whip and half-completed living breastplate in a second hidden vault. After weeks of work, he was able to complete the breastplate and now wears both symbionts proudly, enjoying the boost to his abilities.

As for the future, who can say? As his power grows, Erlomel might seek revenge against house Tharashk. Or perhaps seek to become a true daelkyr?
Yakman
02-22-07, 11:45 AM One thing that you should bear in mind is that Eberron is set in the aftermath of an extremely traumatic event--the Last War, which basically broke Galifaran civilization.

As such, people are going to be looking for alternatives to the "old" system--it didn't work well enough to stop this horrible bloodshed and violence, so it should be replaced.

The RL analogy is western civilization after WW1. People started saying "why would a god of mercy allow such a horrible thing?"

And all these weird pseudo-cults and esoteric movements began to spring up--the Thule Society, Aleister Crowley, etc.. The same thing should be happening in Khorvaire--and this time, the magic is real....

as far as the bad guys you proposed, they look nasty. in a good way.
UnderworldLord
02-22-07, 11:49 AM Just as a side note for real world comparison to the Cults of the Dragon Below, there are actually 0 child murders that are related to cultic or satanic activities. Ask the FBI if you don't believe me.

On the flip side, th CotDB have been known to actually dismember people and let the bodies float back, or at least if you are taking into account what the novel said.
Yakman
02-22-07, 12:04 PM Just as a side note for real world comparison to the Cults of the Dragon Below, there are actually 0 child murders that are related to cultic or satanic activities. Ask the FBI if you don't believe me.

On the flip side, th CotDB have been known to actually dismember people and let the bodies float back, or at least if you are taking into account what the novel said.
I don't believe that, personally, having heard some crazy stuff. It's not just cultists and satanists though. It's racially motivated groups that do some wicked stuff--that also emerged after WW1 and led to the horrors of the Second World War.
Hrt
02-22-07, 12:29 PM Update:

I decide to have Erlomel find a copy of the Codex Anethema (LOM) in the vaults, giving him a bost to his Int and lots of nasty ideas. Now he is close to tracking down the location of the ebon mirror (in eberron, a powerfull daelkyr relic).

He does not, however, want to release the daelkyr. He isn't about to share power.

My idea for the climactic battle is Erlomel having used the mirror to channel the energy of Xoriat into himself, gaining the ELH psuedonatural creature template. Needless to say, I plan to arm my party with some powerfull Dhakanni and Gatekeeper artifacts so they stand half a chance. In the end he will not die, instead he is sucked through a temporary planar breach he created into Xoriat, where he will remain until that plane moves back into alignment thousands of years from now.
Yakman
02-22-07, 12:50 PM Update:

I decide to have Erlomel find a copy of the Codex Anethema (LOM) in the vaults, giving him a bost to his Int and lots of nasty ideas. Now he is close to tracking down the location of the ebon mirror (in eberron, a powerfull daelkyr relic).

He does not, however, want to release the daelkyr. He isn't about to share power.

My idea for the climactic battle is Erlomel having used the mirror to channel the energy of Xoriat into himself, gaining the ELH psuedonatural creature template. Needless to say, I plan to arm my party with some powerfull Dhakanni and Gatekeeper artifacts so they stand half a chance. In the end he will not die, instead he is sucked through a temporary planar breach he created into Xoriat, where he will remain until that plane moves back into alignment thousands of years from now.
:cheer:

Great ideas.

One thing I might do though, to be really gross, would be have pseudo-natural Erlomel be half-sucked into Xoriat when the PCs defeat him, so that he's partially in Xoriat and partially in Eberron, and the body acts like a plug. The PCs think he's dead, when in reality, he's swelling with EEEVIL. Eventually, some of this evil is noticed appearing in the area around the dungeon. When the PCs get to the heart of it, they find Erlomel swelled beyond belief, with his mouth spewing out an over-sized demonic entity that entered him from "the other end". The PCs get to slay him again and finally shut the portal.
UnderworldLord
02-22-07, 04:25 PM There has been a single convicted case of cultism leading to child death (3, one having been mutilated before death), and the only evidence the so-called murderers had anything remotely to do with it was that a mentally retarded individual thought he could get the 50,000 dollar reward by lying to the police, then was questioned without council for twelve hours straight. Daimen Echols, and Jessie Miskelly (if I've spelled their names correctly) where two of the three convicted, in an Arkansas town called West Memphis. The professor gave me the website, but I can't remember what it was.

Note, however, that I specified murders of children, and I should also specify "In the US". I'm sure that there have been at least a handful of occult related killings that may not have been caught, as well as outside the US. I'm relatively certain there have been mass suicides/homicides related to the occult before, though I can't recall if it was South America or somewhere in Asia that they occured in.
Yakman
02-23-07, 11:40 AM Note, however, that I specified murders of children, and I should also specify "In the US". I'm sure that there have been at least a handful of occult related killings that may not have been caught, as well as outside the US. I'm relatively certain there have been mass suicides/homicides related to the occult before, though I can't recall if it was South America or somewhere in Asia that they occured in.
There was the Jonestown Massacre in Guyana, where hundreds of people drank poison Kool-Ade. And the Heaven's Gate mass suicide in California.
UnderworldLord
02-23-07, 07:10 PM Suicide does not equal homicide though. Please remember I'm only referencing the USA, children, and murders.
mhacdebhandia
02-24-07, 04:32 PM As much as I would enjoy a discussion of real-world "new religious movements" and their association with violent crimes - and I would, considering that I have an Honours degree in Studies in Religion and NRMs were my primary focus - this isn't the place, yeah?

I really like the cults of the Dragon Below not only because of my real-world academic interests but also because they're a way to use some classic Lovecraftian concepts in Eberron. It would be really easy to convert the Esoteric Order of Dagon from "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" into a cult of the Dragon Below, to use just one example.

I also like the idea that the cultists might be under the sway of the daelkyr and their creations or that of the Lords of Dust and their minions - or both, in a confusion of darkness and evil. It makes them unpredictable from a gaming standpoint, because knowing you're up against the cults of the Dragon Below doesn't really give you enough information to prepare - are they drawing upon the power of demons or madness, or both?
Hrt
02-24-07, 07:19 PM I also like the idea that the cultists might be under the sway of the daelkyr and their creations or that of the Lords of Dust and their minions - or both, in a confusion of darkness and evil. It makes them unpredictable from a gaming standpoint, because knowing you're up against the cults of the Dragon Below doesn't really give you enough information to prepare - are they drawing upon the power of demons or madness, or both?

Exactly! That unpredictability is the best thing about them. I mean, if you go against the dreaming dark you know you're facing psionics, possession, and legions of mindless sheep from Reidra. But if you face the dragon below, anything is possible.

Come to think of it, it seems to now be pretty much canon that cult of the dragon below=aberrations. I'm thinking of making a cult that focuses on fiends. Anyone else think of this?
tallric_kruush
02-24-07, 07:58 PM I'm thinking of making a cult that focuses on fiends. Anyone else think of this?

Yep. That's pretty much your other option. I had thought of it a time or two, but I honestly haven't run enough games with aberrations to tire of them, yet. Also, it seems most of the fiends bound in Khyber have more powerful servants, such as Rakshasas, serving them already. If I do have players run into a cult devoted to bound fiends, they probably will also run into one of the Lords of Dust.
mhacdebhandia
02-25-07, 09:31 PM Spoilers for the Savage Tide adventure path from Dungeon, which I'm running converted to Eberron:

The adventure "The Lightless Depths" features the city of Golismorga beneath the Isle of Dread, which in the distant past was the home of a civilisation of aboleths until they were driven out by an artifact wielded by the priests of the human city-state of Thanaclan on the surface. In their absence, a cult of koprus who worship Demogorgon have occupied the city and turned some of the aboleths' structures to their own purposes.

In some ways, this inspires me to consider what it would be like for a cult of the Dragon Below to be taken over by agents of the Lords of Dust. The aboleth revere one of the Elder Evils - Holashner, the Hunger Below - and built their city out of strange, unearthly flesh and slime.

The demon cult of koprus have transformed a fleshy ziggurat dedicated to Holashner into a temple of their patron Demogorgon, and the contrast between their baboon-and-snake-themed stonework and the unnatural meat beneath is simple, but striking.

What's also useful is the fact that the koprus are using a substance called bilestone, secreted by Holashner, to infuse the essence of madness and mutation into shadow pearls provided by Demogorgon - essentially, the demon cult is co-opting a power provided by the Elder Evil revered by the aboleth for its own purposes.

In Eberron, Holashner could be one of the lords of Xoriat, if not necessarily a daelkyr. I'm waiting to see Keith's conversion notes for that adventure, but I would be surprised if Holashner isn't described as something similar.
taski
02-26-07, 04:50 AM I've got a few ideas for Dragon Below cults burbling about in my head. In all likelihood, my one player is already aware of this thread, and occasionally peeks his all-too-curious nose in here. Therefore, I won't be bringing my unspeakable ideas into the light of day... for they would extinguish the sun and plunge us all into an inky, maddening death-dream!
(Why, yes, I like Lovecraft. How ever did you know?)

That said, I reserve the right to have lone crazy murderers, who commit bizarre crimes without supernatural coaxing or the promise of a big boss fight.
goblin_pride
02-26-07, 01:02 PM That said, I reserve the right to have lone crazy murderers, who commit bizarre crimes without supernatural coaxing or the promise of a big boss fight.

Bizarre, unrelated crimes may not be from the perspective of a Rajah or a Daelkyr. But then again, they might just be the works of some loon with no ties to either. Kind of the fun of Eberron, isn't it?
Romulus LoneWolf
02-26-07, 03:24 PM My reference point for Cults of the Dragon Below are the Chaos Cults of Warhammer, combined with the Mythos-worshipping Cults of Lovecraft's work...

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Hrt 02-21-07, 10:02 PM	Let me just say that I love the concept. I think they could have used a longer write-up in Faiths of Eberron, mabey leaving out ther Seren dragon cults. Anyway, I just wanted to make a thread for discussion of these cults. I've done a little work on the mourning circle mentioned in FOE, turning them from a one-dungeon crawl encounter to a main campaign adversary, any thoughts? The Circle Ascending Erlomel d'Tharashk's cult in the Khyber's Gate district of Sharn has grow a lot in the past few months. The addition of more then a few aberrant dragonmarked individuals, an artificer, and an influx of cash from various criminal activities has made him much more powerful. Erlomel has deciphered more of the wizard's notes and, after several setbacks, has succesfully created brood leaches. Eight female cult members are now nearly full-term with Daelkyr half-bloods, and he has high hopes for them. His greatest success, however, was the discovery of a tentacle whip and half-completed living breastplate in a second hidden vault. After weeks of work, he was able to complete the breastplate and now wears both symbionts proudly, enjoying the boost to his abilities. As for the future, who can say? As his power grows, Erlomel might seek revenge against house Tharashk. Or perhaps seek to become a true daelkyr?
Yakman 02-22-07, 11:45 AM	One thing that you should bear in mind is that Eberron is set in the aftermath of an extremely traumatic event--the Last War, which basically broke Galifaran civilization. As such, people are going to be looking for alternatives to the "old" system--it didn't work well enough to stop this horrible bloodshed and violence, so it should be replaced. The RL analogy is western civilization after WW1. People started saying "why would a god of mercy allow such a horrible thing?" And all these weird pseudo-cults and esoteric movements began to spring up--the Thule Society, Aleister Crowley, etc.. The same thing should be happening in Khorvaire--and this time, the magic is real.... as far as the bad guys you proposed, they look nasty. in a good way.
UnderworldLord 02-22-07, 11:49 AM	Just as a side note for real world comparison to the Cults of the Dragon Below, there are actually 0 child murders that are related to cultic or satanic activities. Ask the FBI if you don't believe me. On the flip side, th CotDB have been known to actually dismember people and let the bodies float back, or at least if you are taking into account what the novel said.
Yakman 02-22-07, 12:04 PM	Just as a side note for real world comparison to the Cults of the Dragon Below, there are actually 0 child murders that are related to cultic or satanic activities. Ask the FBI if you don't believe me. On the flip side, th CotDB have been known to actually dismember people and let the bodies float back, or at least if you are taking into account what the novel said. I don't believe that, personally, having heard some crazy stuff. It's not just cultists and satanists though. It's racially motivated groups that do some wicked stuff--that also emerged after WW1 and led to the horrors of the Second World War.
Hrt 02-22-07, 12:29 PM	Update: I decide to have Erlomel find a copy of the Codex Anethema (LOM) in the vaults, giving him a bost to his Int and lots of nasty ideas. Now he is close to tracking down the location of the ebon mirror (in eberron, a powerfull daelkyr relic). He does not, however, want to release the daelkyr. He isn't about to share power. My idea for the climactic battle is Erlomel having used the mirror to channel the energy of Xoriat into himself, gaining the ELH psuedonatural creature template. Needless to say, I plan to arm my party with some powerfull Dhakanni and Gatekeeper artifacts so they stand half a chance. In the end he will not die, instead he is sucked through a temporary planar breach he created into Xoriat, where he will remain until that plane moves back into alignment thousands of years from now.
Yakman 02-22-07, 12:50 PM	Update: I decide to have Erlomel find a copy of the Codex Anethema (LOM) in the vaults, giving him a bost to his Int and lots of nasty ideas. Now he is close to tracking down the location of the ebon mirror (in eberron, a powerfull daelkyr relic). He does not, however, want to release the daelkyr. He isn't about to share power. My idea for the climactic battle is Erlomel having used the mirror to channel the energy of Xoriat into himself, gaining the ELH psuedonatural creature template. Needless to say, I plan to arm my party with some powerfull Dhakanni and Gatekeeper artifacts so they stand half a chance. In the end he will not die, instead he is sucked through a temporary planar breach he created into Xoriat, where he will remain until that plane moves back into alignment thousands of years from now. :cheer: Great ideas. One thing I might do though, to be really gross, would be have pseudo-natural Erlomel be half-sucked into Xoriat when the PCs defeat him, so that he's partially in Xoriat and partially in Eberron, and the body acts like a plug. The PCs think he's dead, when in reality, he's swelling with EEEVIL. Eventually, some of this evil is noticed appearing in the area around the dungeon. When the PCs get to the heart of it, they find Erlomel swelled beyond belief, with his mouth spewing out an over-sized demonic entity that entered him from "the other end". The PCs get to slay him again and finally shut the portal.
UnderworldLord 02-22-07, 04:25 PM	There has been a single convicted case of cultism leading to child death (3, one having been mutilated before death), and the only evidence the so-called murderers had anything remotely to do with it was that a mentally retarded individual thought he could get the 50,000 dollar reward by lying to the police, then was questioned without council for twelve hours straight. Daimen Echols, and Jessie Miskelly (if I've spelled their names correctly) where two of the three convicted, in an Arkansas town called West Memphis. The professor gave me the website, but I can't remember what it was. Note, however, that I specified murders of children, and I should also specify "In the US". I'm sure that there have been at least a handful of occult related killings that may not have been caught, as well as outside the US. I'm relatively certain there have been mass suicides/homicides related to the occult before, though I can't recall if it was South America or somewhere in Asia that they occured in.
Yakman 02-23-07, 11:40 AM	Note, however, that I specified murders of children, and I should also specify "In the US". I'm sure that there have been at least a handful of occult related killings that may not have been caught, as well as outside the US. I'm relatively certain there have been mass suicides/homicides related to the occult before, though I can't recall if it was South America or somewhere in Asia that they occured in. There was the Jonestown Massacre in Guyana, where hundreds of people drank poison Kool-Ade. And the Heaven's Gate mass suicide in California.
UnderworldLord 02-23-07, 07:10 PM	Suicide does not equal homicide though. Please remember I'm only referencing the USA, children, and murders.
mhacdebhandia 02-24-07, 04:32 PM	As much as I would enjoy a discussion of real-world "new religious movements" and their association with violent crimes - and I would, considering that I have an Honours degree in Studies in Religion and NRMs were my primary focus - this isn't the place, yeah? I really like the cults of the Dragon Below not only because of my real-world academic interests but also because they're a way to use some classic Lovecraftian concepts in Eberron. It would be really easy to convert the Esoteric Order of Dagon from "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" into a cult of the Dragon Below, to use just one example. I also like the idea that the cultists might be under the sway of the daelkyr and their creations or that of the Lords of Dust and their minions - or both, in a confusion of darkness and evil. It makes them unpredictable from a gaming standpoint, because knowing you're up against the cults of the Dragon Below doesn't really give you enough information to prepare - are they drawing upon the power of demons or madness, or both?
Hrt 02-24-07, 07:19 PM	I also like the idea that the cultists might be under the sway of the daelkyr and their creations or that of the Lords of Dust and their minions - or both, in a confusion of darkness and evil. It makes them unpredictable from a gaming standpoint, because knowing you're up against the cults of the Dragon Below doesn't really give you enough information to prepare - are they drawing upon the power of demons or madness, or both? Exactly! That unpredictability is the best thing about them. I mean, if you go against the dreaming dark you know you're facing psionics, possession, and legions of mindless sheep from Reidra. But if you face the dragon below, anything is possible. Come to think of it, it seems to now be pretty much canon that cult of the dragon below=aberrations. I'm thinking of making a cult that focuses on fiends. Anyone else think of this?
tallric_kruush 02-24-07, 07:58 PM	I'm thinking of making a cult that focuses on fiends. Anyone else think of this? Yep. That's pretty much your other option. I had thought of it a time or two, but I honestly haven't run enough games with aberrations to tire of them, yet. Also, it seems most of the fiends bound in Khyber have more powerful servants, such as Rakshasas, serving them already. If I do have players run into a cult devoted to bound fiends, they probably will also run into one of the Lords of Dust.
mhacdebhandia 02-25-07, 09:31 PM	Spoilers for the Savage Tide adventure path from Dungeon, which I'm running converted to Eberron: The adventure "The Lightless Depths" features the city of Golismorga beneath the Isle of Dread, which in the distant past was the home of a civilisation of aboleths until they were driven out by an artifact wielded by the priests of the human city-state of Thanaclan on the surface. In their absence, a cult of koprus who worship Demogorgon have occupied the city and turned some of the aboleths' structures to their own purposes. In some ways, this inspires me to consider what it would be like for a cult of the Dragon Below to be taken over by agents of the Lords of Dust. The aboleth revere one of the Elder Evils - Holashner, the Hunger Below - and built their city out of strange, unearthly flesh and slime. The demon cult of koprus have transformed a fleshy ziggurat dedicated to Holashner into a temple of their patron Demogorgon, and the contrast between their baboon-and-snake-themed stonework and the unnatural meat beneath is simple, but striking. What's also useful is the fact that the koprus are using a substance called bilestone, secreted by Holashner, to infuse the essence of madness and mutation into shadow pearls provided by Demogorgon - essentially, the demon cult is co-opting a power provided by the Elder Evil revered by the aboleth for its own purposes. In Eberron, Holashner could be one of the lords of Xoriat, if not necessarily a daelkyr. I'm waiting to see Keith's conversion notes for that adventure, but I would be surprised if Holashner isn't described as something similar.
taski 02-26-07, 04:50 AM	I've got a few ideas for Dragon Below cults burbling about in my head. In all likelihood, my one player is already aware of this thread, and occasionally peeks his all-too-curious nose in here. Therefore, I won't be bringing my unspeakable ideas into the light of day... for they would extinguish the sun and plunge us all into an inky, maddening death-dream! (Why, yes, I like Lovecraft. How ever did you know?) That said, I reserve the right to have lone crazy murderers, who commit bizarre crimes without supernatural coaxing or the promise of a big boss fight.
goblin_pride 02-26-07, 01:02 PM	That said, I reserve the right to have lone crazy murderers, who commit bizarre crimes without supernatural coaxing or the promise of a big boss fight. Bizarre, unrelated crimes may not be from the perspective of a Rajah or a Daelkyr. But then again, they might just be the works of some loon with no ties to either. Kind of the fun of Eberron, isn't it?
Romulus LoneWolf 02-26-07, 03:24 PM	My reference point for Cults of the Dragon Below are the Chaos Cults of Warhammer, combined with the Mythos-worshipping Cults of Lovecraft's work...