From: Juhani Seppala (jseppala@hotmail.com)
Date: Mon 09 Dec 1996 - 09:10:08 EET
This is a new cult I have been working on with the help of Antti Rasila and
Nick Effingham. Please feel free to comment.
Juhani Seppala, Helsinki, Finland
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the shadow virago
I. Mythos and History
Cathbad
In the beginning, Cathbad was of Orlanthīs Host. He was a wily, amoral
character, who delighted in intrigue and mischief. He was disliked by many,
but he was kin to Orlanth, and thus tolerated. When the darkness came, and
Orlanth went away, Cathbad was among those left to guard Orlanthīs house,
for in those days, Orlanth still trusted Cathbad.
As the enemy host approached, Cathbad and some of his kin stole treasure
from Orlanthīs vault and escaped into the wilderness. Cathbad and his kin
became outlaws. They adapted well to the darkness and even befriended some
of Kyger Litorīs children. When Orlanth returned, he was furious and hunted
Cathbad. Cathbad and his kin were taught to hide in the darkness by other
darkness dwellers, and to take whatever they needed. Cathbadīs followers
were people like him, who made a living off the work of others.
The Unseen Hand, the cult of Cathbad and later, the cult of Belit, traces
its origin all the way back to the Dawn. The first cultists were little more
than highwaymen and rogues, but when the Solar nomads were driven out and
Peloria liberated, the center of attention was moved to the cities of the
Dara Happan tripolis. The scholars of the Unseen Hand even claim a part in
the declaration of independence of the Tripolis c. 245.
After fhe birth of Nysalor in 375, a golden era of prosperity and bounty
began. The decadence of the Bright Oneīs empire suited the Unseen Hand, but
also caused the beginning of the corruption of its principles. When Arkat
destroyed Nysalorīs empire, the Unseen Hand went into hiding and survived.
The Unseen hand didnīt start to prosper again until the end of the Empire
of the Wyrmsī Friends. This over 500 year period of hard times, persecution
and poor loot changed the Unseen Hand from being a loose society of free-
thinking professional thieves into a rigid, authoritarian criminal
organization of utter secrecy and ill repute. This continued until a
splinter group known as the Nine Fingers emerged in the year 1232.
Belit
Belit was born in the hills of Skanthi around 1200. She left her birthplace
and became a thief and a member of the Unseen Hand. Later, upon attaining
priesthood, Belit heroquested by accident. She found Cathbad and saw that
he had become decadent and uncaring. Shocked, Belit turned her back to
Cathbad. On the way back, Belit came across a duel. She hid and spied the
two combatants. They were Nysalor and the Red Goddess. Belit witnessed the
Red Goddessī victory and illumination by Nysalorīs wisdom. Belit fled
undetected, but could not help being affected by what she had seen.
In the year 1232, nine priests of the Unseen Hand sought to change the
organization from within. There was a great struggle and five of the nine
priests were killed. Finally Belit, the leader of the Nine Fingers,
heroquested and challenged Cathbad himself. In the ensuing battle Cathbad
was cast down and consumed by Belit (Among Belitīs people it was common
practice to ritually kill the King at the end of his reign and distribute
him to the people. Thus the power and knowledge of the king remained with
the tribe.) After the battle, Belit took Cathbadīs place, and made a place
in the Lower World for her three surviving allies. These three became the
first Hecate, the new leaders of the Unseen Hand. The name of Cathbad was
erased from all written documents and Cathbadīs runes (Darkness, Mastery
and Movement) were replaced by Belitīs (Darkness, Mastery and Disorder).
As a result the Unseen Hand underwent great changes, both in the spiritual
and the profanesense. Cruelty, absolutism and authoritarism was replaced by
a dogma emphasizing flexibility, equality, loyalty, exactitude and free
will, as well as a great deal of unpredictability. Belit is, after all,
very much a female and as such her wild mood swings are of great renown.
In 1594 the Unseen Hand formed an alliance with King Terasin of Sartar. The
II. Cult Ecology
Belit is the Shadow Virago, the Nine-fingered, Crow mother, three-faced
Unseen Hand acted as King Terasinīs intelligence operatives until Terasinīs
assasination in 1600. By this time, Terasin and the high priest of Belit
in Alkoth had become good friends, and the alliance was continued. When
Boldhome was sacked in 1602, the Unseen Hand helped members of the Royal
family escape. The Unseen Hand still works for the Royal family of Sartar
and provides regular intelligence reports to Argrath, the heir to the throne
of Sartar, who currently resides in Pavis.
night goddess. She is worshipped within the Lunarian Empire by the thieves
of the Unseen Hand.
During the Greater Darkness, Cathbad formed alliances with other darkness
gods to escape the wrath of Orlanth, most notably Argan Argar and Xiola
Umbar. Orlanthi still distrust Cathbad, but Belit managed to seduce
Orlanth and make peace with him. When Belit encountered Nysalor and the
Red Goddess, she was, in fact, illuminated. This is why she was able to
plot Cathbadīs downfall without being stopped. As a result, those closest
to Belit, that is, the Hecate, are also illuminates and receive all the
benefits thereof. Belit is currently allied to Orlanthīs pantheon and a
natural enemy of the Red Goddess.
Belitīs high holy day is Dark Season, Disorder Week, Godday. Her runes are
III. The cult in the world
Darkness, Mastery and Disorder.
The Unseen Hand is the cult of the goddess Belit. It is one of the major
cults of thievesī in the Lunarian Empire. The Unseen Hand monopolizes most
of the burglary and information collecting -related crime within the
boundaries of the Lunarian Empire. It has created an effective network
for the distribution of stolen goods and information gathering. The Unseen
Hand has so far been able to evade the Lunarian policing forces with
success.
The supreme leader of the cult is the Hecate, three women who are inhabited
by Belit. Only priests of Belit are allowed to see and speak to the Hecate.
The closest an ordinary initiate would get to seeing the Hecate is the
shadow image of her/them through a transparent curtain. When a temple of
Belit is created, a special windowless room is reserved for the Hecate.
The room is sanctified, after which a door appears. This door is the
entrance to the Hecateīs chamber. The Hecate inhabit all the temples of
Belit at the same time, or rather the chamber of the Hecate can be reached
through every temple of Belit. The chamber does not, however, permit a
priest to travel through it or to meetpriests from other cities in it
without a succesful divine intervention. The Hecate and the priests are
permanently linked, so the Hecate know everything the priests know, and
have access to the priestsī spells and magic points.
Every temple is in a sense, autonomous. Priests lead their congregations or
"rings" quite independently (except for The Hecate, but she/they leaves
most mundane decisions to the high priests). The Hierarchy is based on
equality, so the priests are no better or more priviledged than a common
initiate, and the position is attained and upheld through mutual respect
and loyalty. If a priest was to lose the respect of his subjects, he would
voluntarily withdraw from his position, and stand trial before the Hecate.
Depending on the crime committed, the priest would either be killed or
sentenced to probation. After the probation period it is even possible for
the priest to get reinstated.
Temples of Belit are only found in large cities of the Lunarian Empire.
IV. Initiate membership
Requirements: The initiate (Finger) must be recommended by another initiate
Shrines are found in smaller cities as well. It is correspondingly harder
to earn a living as a professional thief, the smaller the settlement gets,
so almost no worship of Belit exists outside the cities.
of good standing and succeed in four of the following skills: Climb,
Devise, Hide, Sleight, Sneak. If successful the worshipper donates 1 POW
and is accepted into the cult. The initiate must sacrifice 20% of time
and income to the cult and vow secrecy and loyalty to the cult. The time
requirement doesnīt mean that the initiate must spend every fifth day on
cult business.It can just as well mean a period of about 60 days a year,
during which time full upkeep is provided for the initiate. If the
parent(s) / mentor of the initiate-to-be is a member of the Unseen Hand,
the candidate can automatically join at age 15 by spending 1 point of POW.
Skill multipliers for Unseen Hand thiefs
climb x4, jump x1, throw x2, fast talk x1, evaluate x3, human lore x1,
conceal x3, sleight x2, devise x2, hide x3, sneak x3, fist attack x2,
fist parry x1, 1h sword attack x2 and parry or dodge x2 -or rapier attack x2
and maine gauche parry or dodge x2, nine fingers x2, subdue x1, ceremony or
enchant or summon x1, MAGIC: (divine) 1-point increase in POW every three
years, which may be sacrificed for one-use divine magic. (spirit) receives
1 point of cult spirit magic per 5 years or fraction thereof. EQUIPMENT:
wool and linen clothing, knife, backpack, sack, jar of body paint, knuckle
duster, appropriate 1-handed edged weapon, mask, rope and grappling hook,
lockpicks and tools, forearm greaves (AP 3), cult ritual tattoos, 100
pennies in assorted loot and 3d10 pennies in coins.
Spirit Magic: Countermagic, Glue, Lullaby, Shadowcloak, Silence. Members
are encouraged to learn spells from wherever possible.
V. Priesthood
Requirements: The candidate for priesthood must have at least 60% in
Ceremony, Nine fingers, Subdue and three of the following skills: Climb,
Device, Sleight, Sneak, Hide and pass a test of holiness (POWx3). Priests
(Hands) must dedicate 80% of their time and income to the cult. They act as
leaders of the ring in both the spiritual and the material sense. The priest
receives an allied spirit on a successful POWx3 roll. The spirit usually
takes the shape of a crow, a bird notorious for its thieving habbits.
Priest Initiation
The priest candidate becomes the spouse of Belit. The ceremony climaxes
in an orgy of sexual frenzy involving the candidate and the Hecate. After
this, the Hecate eats the candidate and gives birth to a child which then
grows up unnaturally fast and retains the personality and memories of the
priest candidate.The priest candidate loses all memory of being eaten alive.
No one is allowed to witness the climax of the ceremony. The Hecate acts as
midwife and raises the infant to adulthood. This takes about three months.
Belit divine intervention
The most common form of divine intervention Belit grants is escape. If a
priest is caught and Belit decides to help him, no common lock or barrier
will hold him.
Common divine magic: Divination, Excommunication, Find enemy, Mindlink,
Sanctify, Soul sight, Spellteaching, Spirit block, Warding, Worship Belit
Special divine magic: Darksight, Fear, Spiderclimb
VI. The Hecate
Requirements: Very rarely would there be a vacancy in the Hecate. It is
quite difficult to kill any one of them considering that the Hecate
practically is Belit. In fact, even the thought of killing the Hecate is
an absurdity to cult members, but non-cultists might muster such insanities.
Occasionally the Hecate die of old age and when this happens, a new member
is chosen from the ranks of priesthood. The candidate must have at least
90% in Ceremony, Nine fingers, Subdue and three of the following skills:
Sleight, Device, Climb, Hide, Sneak. The candidate must also succeed in a
POWx1 roll and be female.
Note: The Hecate are the earthly manifestation of Belit. Before initiation
they were ordinary priestesses but they were illuminated and chosen by Belit
as her vessels. They represent the three aspects of Belit: the Mother is
Belit when she comforts and protects her children, the Unseen Hand. the
Sister represents the virtues of the Unseen Hand. The Lover is volatility,
disorder and destructiveness but also adaption and survival.
Common divine magic: Divination, Excommunication, Find enemy, Mindlink,
Sanctify, Soul sight, Spellteaching, Spirit block, Warding, Worship Belit
Special divine magic: Darksight, Fear, Mindblast, Resurrection through
digestion, Spiderclimb
VII. Special Belit Spirit Magic spells
Lullaby 2 points
ranged, temporal, passive
This spell causes a resting or tired person to fall asleep or a target in
REM- sleep to fall into a deep dreamless slumber. The GM determines the
targetīs state of awareness.
Effects of the Lullaby spell success
mod. state of target crit normal fail
+60 1) fully awake and well rested 5 5 1
+40 2) fully awake 6 5 2
+20 3) awake, tired 7 6 2
+10 4) awake, suffering from 7 6 3
sleep deprivation
0 5) awake, slumbering 8 7 4
- - -10 6) in a light sleep 9 8 4
- - -20 7) in a restless REM-sleep 10 9 4
- - -30 8) in a peaceful REM-sleep 10 9 4
- - -50 9) in deep sleep 10 10 5
- - -80 10) in very deep sleep 10 10 6
Shadowcloak variable
touch, temporal, passive
The Target becomes in appearance a shadow with blurred outlines. Add 10%
per point to targets hide skill. It is virtually impossible to detect the
immobile target at night. The target is also harder to hit. Substract 5%
per point from the skill of anyone
attempting to hit the target.
VIII. Special Belit Divine Spells
Darksight 1 point
touch, duration 1 hour, nonstackable, reusable
Allows target to see in the dark as well as in full daylight.
Resurrection through digestion 3 points
ritual (ceremony), nonstackable,single use
This ritual spell enables The Hecate to resurrect the target by eating
him and then giving birth to a child with all the mental and physical
characteristics of the target. The child matures to adulthood in about
three month and loses all memory of being eaten alive.
Spiderclimb variable
touch, temporal, nonstackable, reusable
Allows target to climb on flat vertical surfaces as well as if he was
using a ladder. Each point adds +25% to targets climb skill.
IX. Special Unseen Hand skills
Nine Fingers language (00%)
A specialized sign language using minute hand movements. This skill
enables members of The Unseen Hand to identify each other and to
communicate secretly in a room full of people. When initiated a memberīs
skill is raised to 15%. The skill can only be increased
by training and research.
Subdue manipulation (00%)
A skill used to knock out an unsuspecting target. Subdue is treated
as an aimed blow with the fist or with a knuckle duster against a
surprised target. If the blow hits damage is rolled for normally but
the subdue skill is added to the chance of a knock out on the resistance
table. When initiated a memberīs skill is raised to 05%. The skill can
only be raised by training and research.
X. Special Unseen Hand equipment
Body paint
A mixture made of charcoal and grease used for camouflage. Added effect
of making the user very slippery. Adds +5% to the Hide skill of a target
not also using Shadowcloak or other such spells. Substract -5% from the
skill of an opponent attempting to Grapple and add +5% to the contorionist
skill of the user
Caltrops and marbles
Caltrops and marbles are dropped on the ground to slow down or stop
pursuers.
Forearm greaves
Half-length forearm greaves made of leather and wood, bone, horn or metal.
Used for parrying melee weapons (skill used: Fist parry, AP is 3-6
depending on material used).
Knuckle duster
A weapon used to enhance the damage of a fist attack. Can also be used for
subduing.
XI. Associated gods
Argan Argar: Provides Darkwalk
Xiola Umbar: Provides Shield of Darkness and Turn Blow
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End of Glorantha Digest V4 #5
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