The Black Man has no true cult in the sense of an organization, but his awakened followers occasionally work together to learn spells and secrets from the god.. The Bloated Woman In this
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the high-born, undermine important religious
or social leaders, or blackmail the mighty
The Black Man
Nyarlathotep can choose to take the form of an
ordinary human with flesh, eyes, teeth, and nails of
blackest pitch In this form, he presides at the meetings
of witches and wizards that worship him The Black
Man has no true cult in the sense of an organization,
but his awakened followers occasionally work together
to learn spells and secrets from the god
The Bloated Woman
In this form, Nyarlathotep eschews cult worship
in favor of a small group of devoted followers They
are secretive and operate outside normal society, in a
somewhat similar fashion to the more cerebral followers
of the Shadow Pharaoh, but the Bloated Woman’s
followers are emotional, instinctive, and radical
Berserker Frenzy: Cultists are unable to resist
the Bloated Woman’s every whim and madly
seek out her favor They will do anything to be
once more permitted into her presence, and so
are the most loyal of fanatics When prevented
from serving her, they fly into mad rages
Contagious Madness: The Bloated
Woman's contagious madness is similar to
that brought about by the Shadow Pharaoh,
except that the mob tends to be more focused
on killing people en masse, rather than
vandalizing structures The Bloated Woman
herself presides over the destruction
The Haunter of the Dark
In this form, Nyarlathotep can only exist in the
absence of light, so he typically makes his appearance
in underground caverns or windowless structures As the Haunter of the Dark, he creates cults which are (at least on the surface) respectable religions They may have structures built right in the middle of cities, where all can see them, and present the semblance of legitimate faith whilst hiding their true nature Most
of the rituals and services do not invoke the Haunter
directly but instead focus upon its emblem: a Shining
Trapezohedron (page 169) Even the trapezohedron
need not be physically exposed to the congregation’s eyes It can be kept inside a container or a statue, and thus even many of the actual cultists are deceived as to the true nature of their faith
The Haunter likes to prey physically upon his own cultists, to keep them from straying or simply
as a terrifying surprise for them This partially sates Nyarlathotep’s need not only for devastation but also for human madness and terror
The Haunter offers a significant and ruthless benefit for his cultists
The Haunter Strikes: On moonless nights, the
priests can send forth the Haunter to destroy those who oppose them When used to find information about a victim of the Haunter, divination spells and even direct communion with one’s god are limited by the Haunter’s power
Anyone trying to find out what caused a person’s death can only learn that it was the Haunter of the Dark, but not who sent forth the Haunter
or for what reason it was done Nyarlathotep’s power absorbs any other attempts to uncover
the nature of his cult He can even block wishes
and other powerful means of discovery Cultists thus have a useful means of murder at a distance, which cannot readily be traced back to them