Cult of the Sleeper Tsathoggua is keenly interested in worshippers because he is always hungry for sacrifice.. All the stages of the cult may be present simultaneously on a world or cont
Trang 1Cult of the Sleeper
Tsathoggua is keenly interested in worshippers because
he is always hungry for sacrifice His cult follows the
same natural cycle in almost every case (see below) All
the stages of the cult may be present simultaneously on
a world or continent, but in any one region or nation,
only one stage manifests at a time
At all times and at all stages, the primary function
of the cult is to keep Tsathoggua fed so that he
continues to reward his worshippers Unlike other
Mythos cultists, cultists of the Sleeper are often sane
and rational, if callously so Tsathoggua places no
premium on madness or destruction for its own sake,
and thus his cult can operate in an ordered society—at
least for a while
Sleeper Cult Beginnings
Initially, only a few unlucky individuals in any given
region know about Tsathoggua The Great Old One
may make personal appearances or his formless spawn
may contact likely individuals These people begin
worshiping Tsathoggua and start organizing services
for fellow cultists Tsathoggua’s cult at this early stage
often seems more or less harmless Only animals (dogs,
cows, etc.) are sacrificed to their foul deity, and the
obvious benefits of the cult make it seem attractive, at
least to those of a low moral nature
At this stage, the cult may be limited to a particular clan, race, or guild, but it always looks to expand The
cult is not an exclusionary organization and welcomes
outsiders as adherents
The Rise of the Sleeper Cult
Eventually, the Cult of the Sleeper becomes large and
forms a proper church At this point it is grouped
into congregations, each of which has formal worship
services, one or more temples, and an organized
hierarchy with initiates, acolytes, and priests These
congregations work together as groups to capture and provide victims for the awakening of Tsathoggua When possible, they attempt to bring their cult to a position of importance in their land
At this stage, the cult is strong and bold enough
to begin kidnapping humans and other intelligent victims to sacrifice to their god The benefits they receive from this are obvious, even to outsiders, and the cult continues to grow Typically, the cult still attempts
to keep the sacrificial nature and true purpose of the religion at least somewhat hidden
Downfall of the Sleeper Cult
Unless the cult is able to achieve a stranglehold on
an entire nation, eventually its prominence leads to disaster The vile practices, kidnappings, and murders
of the cult, as well as its dealings with hideous formless spawn and other monsters (such as serpent folk), lead the forces of law and order to strike back and try to suppress the Sleeper
Even if the Sleeper Cult does manage to gain support
in high places (for example, by converting a nation’s king or vizier to its number), this can lead to a mass revolt against the horrors it perpetrates The natural response to the Sleeper is a call for its official ban or even a pogrom against the cult Sleeper worshippers
go into hiding or engage in pitched battles with the authorities Usually the Sleeper Cult is exposed before
it has grown too powerful to be stopped, and thus it is eventually doomed to widespread destruction
But even then it is not gone
The Sleeper in Secret
A few cultists almost always remain, often the most intelligent and potent They carry on the lore and the legend of their god Even if most of the cult dies out,