#demoniac cultist

[fishme4t]

day 1 to 10 of Madcomtober

[magiturge]

a magiturge that likes to drop his staff and wands sometimes just to do it the old fashioned way

[paladin-of-nerd-fandom65]

1: What "fictional place" would the duo act out when they play? Like medieval times with wizards & dragons, modern secret spy place (metal gear solid) or outer space defeating aliens. Etc

2: When playing cowboys (stand off), who gets shot first? Or since they are Star Wars fans, who's Han Solo & who's greedo? XD

3: What type of story and/or map(s) would you create for the duo, Jon & mar'i, in a COD zombie type game?

4: Who would be "uno" in a game of uno between the duo, mar'i, and the supersons?

5: You know how there is versus matches between popular characters for plot reasons (Batman vs Superman, Godzilla vs Kong etc) how would the duo get into a fight? Maybe mind control?

I would like to say thanks for answering my amazing questions for the past 9 months (wow, been that long). Really glad to see your universe improved (especially Chris and Jake)

For now, I’m going to stop (don’t worry I’m still around to chat and tag you in stuff XD) cause

1: kinda hard to ask what type of questions to say and remembering if I asked a question already

2: we kinda do chat about stuff almost everyday

Until I figure out more, see you later buddy! (Flies away on nimbus from dragon ball XD)

💙💜💙

Sorry if it took a long time to get this my friend @pin-crusher2000 but after much looking over and consideration, here shall be my answers ;-)

1) Oh too easy; either ancient Kryptonian and Tamaranean warriors from their history, fighting against their numerous enemies whether it be the Gordanians played by their plushies or even each other as a fair duel, so basically Space warriors OR As a Royal Prince and his Bodyguard Knight against demons and enemy knights like in a fantasy world akin to D&D

2) Chris = Han Solo

Jake = Greedo

and yes Han Blasts Greedo First

3) Okay So, the Kents and Graysons would find themselves waking up in a corrupted and twisted version of Bludhaven, swarming with hordes of the red eyed Undead, hellhounds, Demoniac Bats, and even Three Headed Canines (functionally the latter two are akin to the Parasites and Margwas). They have their superpowers albeit severely dampened and diminished to which they can only take down at most the zombies at the same time before they need to strike again.

The basic story is that before being sent here, the four were tipped on what was a summoning ritual by some cultists who were trying to summon Trigon, likely led by Brother Blood and while they prevent Trigon himself from coming out, the spell was corrupted and activated anyways so now it’s up to our heroes to gathered enough of their strength and find the source of these demonic Zombies in order to escape this Hell. Guiding them though would be one young voice; a girl who sounds no older than Mar’i but intelligent and willing to help them as they traverse this hellish city in exchange for also helping her, wherever she may be. This ancient evil beyond their imagination summoned by those cultists and their sins was invited and she concludes there’s far more to them than this…how their very world maybe even their multiverse itself is now in danger and they can stop it with her…..her name is Samantha, she’s going to tell them how all of this really began.

While not exactly Wonder Weapons in the traditionally sense, the Mystery Box would grant our heroes gauntlets, capes, headbands like what Chris and Mar’i wear and other accessories which do grant them enhanced powers that function like them. One gauntlet Jake can equip on his gloves can cause a chain reaction electric shock to the Zombies he punches a la the Wunderwaffe DG2. The map itself while a sprawling city with a central hub in the City Square with branching areas including the Dockyards, Downtown, the Suburbs, Bludhaven Stadium and the Pack A Punch location being Titans Tower, has numerous Kino/Der Riese style walkways, barriers and corridors allowing players to vary their play styles whether it be camping, training or going with the flow.

So yeah basically a combination of Mob of the Dead, Shadows of Evil and Maur der Toten with a tiny pinch of Origins

I shall dub this Map;

Jugend der Untoten (Youth of the Undead)

4) Mar’i; she trounces all of the boys without any fail but doesn’t cheat. Her secret is to always get rid of her cards that have the lowest number first

5) hmmm……

Christopher Kent, Nightwing Phantom VS Son Gohan

Jakand’r, Jacob Grayson, Skybird VS Bailey Briggs, The Amazing Spider Boy*

Oh I say maybe Inter-dimensional Tournament which puts their respective worlds at risk of destruction should they lose. Naturally all these combatants would ally to overturn the rules and save their worlds together as a team

(Yes he’s a real character ;-) )

Thanks for the asks again Buddy

💙💜💙

[askmadcomcrew]

i just found out that the demoniacs can literally summon the stygian (in their true form(?)) in nevada house if you dont stop them? auditor what are your thoughts on this

He must truly be bored if he's allowing lowly cultists to summon him.

[justanotherpersonsuniverse]

Fluff: Paladins go after Juleka for being Alya's high priestess and Rose then defends Juleka... and simultaneously, some demoniacs go after Juleka for fraternizing with an angel and then Alya defends Juleka. So Juleka, Alya, and Rose wind up simultaneously fighting two mobs comprised of their craziest or most zealous cultists (for Alya) and devotees (for Rose). Juleka is touched that her friends care for her that much, to stand up to their own cult/devotees.

Juleka feels so loved

[newt--x]

Anyone in Riverdale: *breathes*

Death, murderers, cultists, demoniac dolls: hi there ;)

[dailycharacteroption]

Prestige Class Spotlight 9: Souldrinker

 The third and final of the “fiendish obedience” prestige classes, the souldrinker venerates the neutral evil classical fiends, the daemons. Such fiends are the embodiment of nihilism, seeking to snuff out existence in its myriad forms, most notably by consuming souls, removing their quintessence from the cycle of renewal.

While demoniacs seek to become demons, and diabolists seek to use devils, souldrinkers emulate the daemons more directly, seeking to devour the essence of others to empower themselves and utterly end their foes.

Only someone whose nihilism reflects these dark creatures would ever consider such a path to power, for like the other two, choosing to become a souldrinker means pledging yourself to a dark power. However, in this case, one is less likely to be set up as a new servant or denizen of that lower plane, and more likely to be simply devoured, with the vast majority just more fodder for their destructive masters, only a few deemed useful enough to find new life as a daemon. Such individuals must surely not care about their own lives, and exist only to compound the suffering of others, their cruelty shaped by hateful influences and history.

Aside from knowledge of spellcasting and fiendish obedience, the only requirement of this prestige class is that the aspirant have ever existed as a disembodied soul, either having died and been revived, or having use the magic jar spell or similar effect.

 Like all such classes, these dread mystics continue to master their magic as they grow in power, albeit at a reduced rate.

As previously mentioned, souldrinkers pledge themselves to daemons, either to one of the four horsemen, or to one of the daemonic harbingers. Doing so nets them a one-way ticket to Abaddon, making them extremely difficult, if not impossible to resurrect. Naturally, they must also perform regular obediences to their patron to maintain their powers.

Early on in their careers, these cultists gain the services of a cacodaemon familiar, messily devouring any previous familiar as needed to free up the role.

Though in theory, souldrinkers can literally devour souls whole with the help of their dread familiars, their primary way to consume life force is blasts of life-draining negative energy.

These rays, along with any and all other ways that they can inflict energy drain, nets them soul energy they can use to help craft magic items, ward their own soul against assault, and even recover spell energy.

Like all obedience prestige classes, fiendish or otherwise, this prestige class puts one on the fast track to rapidly gaining all the obedience boons for that particular path for that deity.

What’s more, souldrinkers also gain one of four sets of abilities based on which of the four horsemen they venerate, or which harbinger most closely matches one of the four. Those following the horseman of pestilence are immune to disease while also spreading it magically, death wards the soul while draining life with a touch, war protects against blood loss and enfeeblement while inducing bloodthirst and fury, while finally famine protects them from ingested and inhaled poisons and removes the need to eat while also bestowing curses.

The various builds possible with this prestige class are numerous, so this should really be more of a character decision than anything else, rather than merely going for an effective build. Their ability to fuel their spellcasting with drained energy can be quite effective from a back of the line build, though.

 While not typically tyrants or destroyers, souldrinkers are a mix of both, and exploring the terrible atrocities that have to occur to shape someone into such a being is part of the fun of developing them as NPCs, or perhaps as evil characters in an evil campaign.

  Desperate to reforge the Crucible of Truth, the party must diligently work to gather the esoteric components to do so… but there is another way. A terrible dark way being offered to them by the cult of the Great Devourer. However, to travel that path would surely corrupt the crucible.

 Rarely worshipped by bipeds, one of the great spirits of destruction is the Maw Wyrm, a primordial draconic spirits of devouring and death. However, some evil dragon cults, particularly those with degenerate wyvarans as members, do follow that path, and are granted ravenous boons.

 In some places, owls are seen as symbols of wisdom and the occult. Not so in Erbrida, where the scars of the Soulbinder War still linger, and owls remind folks of the terrible avian harbinger that the armies of the Soulbinder marched under. Anyone seen with an owl is suspected to be a remnant of that fell army.

[monstersdownthepath]

Guess what I just learned! The Diverse Obedience feat allows you to select which Boon you get as you reach Hit Dice thresholds, allowing you to mix and match them for your build. Your choice cannot be changed once it’s selected,

You can take the Evangelist’s first Boon, the Sentinel’s second Boon, and the Exalted’s third Boon, for example, but the combinations can get wacky.

Diverse Obedience allows you to achieve the Boons at levels 10, 14, and 18 rather than 12/16/20, but the proper Prestige Classes allow you to get the Boons at levels 10/13/16, or even 8/11/14 depending on which one you take and what alignment you are. It’s mostly a matter of what you want and how fast you want it at that point. 

And while I’m thinking about it, the current Prestige Classes are:

Sentinel, Evangelist, and Exalted (Any god and any alignment; Inner Sea Gods, pg. 198~203)

Demoniac (Chaotic Evil worshiper of Demons; The Complete Book of the Damned, pg. 208~209)

Diabolist (Lawful Evil worshiper of Devils; The Complete Book of the Damned, pg. 210~211)

Souldrinker (Neutral Evil worshiper of Daemons; The Complete Book of the Damned, pg. 212~213)

Feysworn (Worshipers of the Eldest Fey; The First World: Realm of the Fey, pg. 8~9)

Mystery Cultist (Good-aligned worshiper of the Empyreal Lords; Chronicles of the Righteous, pg. 48~49)

Proctor (Neutral-aligned worshiper of the Monitors; Concordance of Rivals, pg. 44~45)

[wanderingmoonsword]

Skitterdark (Demon)

Small, aggressive, and cat-sized, skitterdark demons roam in packs to fall upon intruders to the Abyss, tearing them apart with profane claws. Despising any being not raised up from the Abyss – and probably many beings from within such as the qlippoth – the skitterdarks seem to me beings of the sin of wrath. Lesser than the vrock the skitterdark may be but their sheer fury can carry through against greater foes, clustering together and swarming over the enemy, tearing at flesh and picking away armor. Few skitterdarks willingly join great Abyssal armies – it’s simply not their way – but some demon lords use them as scouts and sentinels, roaming the edges of their territory to watch for intruders, a task skitterdarks do with relish. Especially if it means they can find goblins or halflings. Skitterdarks are fond of devouring mortals foolish enough to enter the Abyss but those two races are a special treat, cooked or raw. Whether you take one as a single mastermind or a pack of foes hammering at a party as they try to deal with some greater evil, skitterdark demons are a fun addition to the game, one that fits in well with the other demons and can be dropped into a campaign if you want a little more variety in your lesser demons.

As the Anarch Crusade rages, skitterdarks and dretches roam at the fringes of the demonic horde. While the dretches are stupid, reeking nuisances, lazy and often easily avoided, the sktiterdarks are persistent and far more clever stalkers. They fall upon anyone they find, be it wounded and deserters from the clashing armies, refugees from the war’s devastation, and even cultists who lack the power or demonic companions to drive them away. With no allegiance to the Anarch Crusade’s marilith general or her dread vanguard lieutenant, even the demoniac warriors who make up much of the demons’ army aren’t safe if the skitterdarks manage to catch them isolated or inattentive. The skitterdarks have a special fondness for the goblin tribes that emerge to scavenge behind the war, doing their best to take a few alive by ripping at their tendons and biting off fingers. Any goblins who survive are dragged away, often screaming in sheer terror as the skitterdarks make dark promises about cooking them for the dogs.

After an accident with a scroll and a mysterious staff, a group of adventurers must survive and find their way to a portal out of the Abyss if they ever want to see home once more. Fiendish and anarchic animals roam, with a pack of ostovites eager to turn them into bone chariots, but the confrontation draws the attention of a tribe of monkey goblins. Although the goblins know of a planar portal, there’s a catch: A gang of skitterdarks nest on top of the portal, occasionally stealing through or terrorizing the monkey goblins, dragging one or two off. The tribe’s spiritual liege, a goblin snake, offers them a deal, get rid of the skitterdarks and help the tribe evacuate, and they get a map to the portal.

Posing as little more than strange, otherworldly pets summoned by a powerful cleric of a warlike demon lord, a group of skitterdarks seem to be nothing but pampered, spoiled pets. In truth, the skitterdarks are among the cleric’s most loyal spies, and their act ensures many carelessly drop secrets and plans of betrayal in front of the demons. Those they catch are given to the tiny demons to dispose of as they please. The deaths are neither quick nor pleasant, as the skitterdarks make a point of pride to stretch out the execution, tormenting their victim before they devour what little remains alive.

- Tome of Horrors Complete 174

[beesandwasps]

Yeah, uh, if you’re outside the US? There are definitely people in your country who believe this stuff and want to get it into your country’s education system.

As readers of Good Omens know (although they may not realize that the opening paragraphs of that section are actually factual) that the 6000-year number dates to the English Archbishop James Usher, and that other churches have their own equally-stupid calculations. I don’t know offhand why Usher’s calculations became so ingrained in evangelical protestantism — I’m sure there’s a reason, but after you read enough about them it gets really tiresome to hear more about it — but they did. But the important thing to take away is: this is a historically European number, not something Americans invented, and churches other than protestants had similar figures which they believed (and, IIRC, still do, in some sects).

And there are evangelical protestants in every country, trying to convert those countries to their stupid-ass religion. This should not surprise you in the least — if you’ve been paying attention, you will have seen that governments in other countries, like England and Canada, have been astonished to realize that there are QAnon cultists in their countries. QAnon is a completely US-centric conspiracy, mostly but not entirely focussed on the blatantly false idea that Donald Trump is honest and everybody who disagrees with him is not just wrong but demoniacally evil. You’d think that such a very geographically specific, very obviously wrong thing would not export well, but in the 5 or so years that QAnon has existed (it began more or less with “Pizzagate” if you want to look that up) it got across national borders. Evangelical Christianity isn’t geographically specific, and has existed in its who-do-you-believe-the-Bible-or-your-lying-eyes form since at least the 1800s, so you should expect to find it everywhere, if even QAnon could spread that fast.

y’all I CANNOT

[cinemamablog]

Literal Cult Films

I spent a lot of time reading about cults as a young adult: books on Jonestown for fun and books on Scientology as preparation to play Karen Weston in August: Osage County. So I felt like a knowledgeable woman when I strolled past the Scientology solicitors on Hollywood Boulevard one summer evening. Kris and Adam stopped to talk to the smiling man, handing out FREE PERSONALITY TESTS to ideal targets: impressionable people with a weak sense of self. I kept walking, hoping that the boys would use me as an out: “oh, we have to go, that’s my friend/that’s my fiancé…” But no. They smiled, nodded their heads, listened intently, and walked away with an informational pamphlet.

“You guys know Scientology’s a cult, right?”

“How is it a cult?”

“They get you hooked with some pseudo philosophy that makes you feel good about yourself and then they start asking for money and bleed you dry.”

“How is that any different from Christianity?”

That stumped me. I never considered the fine line between religion and cult. I pondered the boys’ retort and I realized that I find cults so fascinating because their very existence reflects two innate human instincts: the need to belong and the desire to be a part of something bigger than yourself. Some people satisfy these instincts with religion, some through their work, or family, or art. And some unfortunate souls find a sense of belonging by putting their trust in something or someone with sinister intentions.

Cinema loves cults. How could it not? Ceremonial robes in rich colors, graphic rituals, charismatic megalomaniacs into which actors can sink their teeth, and endless potential for melodramatics. Satan, mass suicide, pleading parents of devotees, oblivious smiles of trusting followers. The subject lends itself to the dramatic arts.

While some of cinema’s cults defy categorization because their unique takes have yet to be duplicated onscreen (such as the powerful sex maniacs of Eyes Wide Shut and whatever the heck is going on in Suicide Club), most fit into neat boxes: satanic cults, witches, cults of religious personality, pagan cults, and cult aftermath/deprogramming.

Movies that center themselves on cults that specifically worship Satan tend to play the human sacrifice angle to create conflict. Usually a young woman acts as the sacrifice, as in Jennifer’s Body and Satanic Panic. If the plot does not revolve around a sacrifice, then the antichrist has been brought into the world by Satanists, as in the Omen, the House of the Devil and Rosemary’s Baby. One exception to this rule of sacrificial women and evil babies is the 7th Victim, in which the young woman on the other side of the Satanists’ condemnation isn’t considered a human sacrifice, but rather a traitor to her comrades and must die for it.

I find this common, sacrifice-crazed take on Satanic cults unbelievable: members delight in evil, yet don’t find answers in it. They worship Satan for Satan’s sake. They don’t get much in the bargain, only acting as foot servants to the devil. They’re easy ��bad guys” to write, but lack motive. Not like the followers of cults of religious personality.

With clear references to the real life tragedy of Jonestown, Ti West’s the Sacrament captures the final hours of the Guyana massacre with realistic style, showing us the gritty details of coldblooded mass murder. One of my favorite found footage movies, Amy Seimetz (Pet Semetary, Alien: Covenant) shines as a faithful follower of the cult’s leader. In more fantastical films, like the Veil and the “Safe Haven” segment of V/H/S/2, elements of the Jonestown massacre surround more mystical forces, from ghosts of former cultists to summoned demoniacal monsters. (I can’t think of a better short in an anthology than “Safe Haven.” To quote the menu at Shahi Palace: simply perfection.) The followers in all three of these movies have been encouraged to believe in something bigger than themselves, regardless of whether their leader’s promises lead to fruition or death.

Pagan cults (or as I like to call them: ancient religions that Westerners don’t respect) are most famous for the human sacrifices in films like the Wicker Man, the Kill List, and Midsommar. That said, filmmakers have done paganism’s PR team no favors. Similar to the representation of pagan cults, witches also get a bad rap in film. Like the witchy predators in both the 1973 and 2018 versions of Suspiria and the coven in the Love Witch, most witchy cults onscreen use magic at the dear expense of their unassuming victims. Quiet a far cry from the sage and candles you’d find in real life when visiting pagan and witchcraft shops.

And now for my favorite category: cult aftermath and deprogramming. In both Riley Stearns’ Faults and Jane Campion’s Holy Smoke!, older men work as deprogrammers to cure younger women of their warped, brainwashed mindsets, at the behest of their desperate families. Both movies twist and turn in surprising ways around two strong lead actors. In contrast to these two films’ games of tug-o-war, Martha Marcy May Marlene presents the aftermath for one ex-cult follower as something closer to trauma. In Elisabeth Olsen’s breakout role, she plays her character with heartache and poor communication skills, who can’t help her loved ones help her get the help she needs.

While I recognize that the subgenre of cult films contributes to an aura of danger and fear surrounding the subject of cults, I think we can learn a lot about ourselves by examining the groups we demonize onscreen. Why do we worry so much about the devil? Why do we dwell on inhumane massacres when we have no tidy answers for why they occurred?  Why do we fear women and men who worship nature or cast spells? Why do we ostracize, and get frustrated trying to fix, trauma survivors? I adore films about cults because they cut to our deepest fears about each other, ourselves, and the spiritual world. We don’t have the answers and we don’t trust those who claim to, yet we long for a sense of understanding. It’s a mad world and cults are just one way to make sense of it.

[dailycharacteroption]

Prestige Class Spotlight 7: Demoniac

Given the evils they represent, it isn’t too much of a stretch to call demons the sum of sin and sinful souls, transformed into savage, antagonistic form to haunt the multiverse. For goodly folk, such creatures are a danger and a warning to those tempted to submit to their base desires.

Others, however, see them as a path to power, even going so far as to look forward to their eventual transformation into demons after death. Worse still, some seek to accelerate the process!

Demoniacs are one of the three prestige classes from Book of the Damned meant to emulate a specific species of fiend, namely demons and in the form of bodily transformation, physically becoming a demon through the infusion of demonic energy, with the hope that they will travel far enough this path before they die to have a say in how they are reshaped after death.

These fiend-worshippers come in all shapes and sizes, due to the wide variety of demon lords they could devote themselves to, and to the requirements for taking this path being only a fearsome demeanor, knowledge of magical lore and planar secrets, obedience to a demon lord, and having gotten a direct taste of demonic power, having been mentally or physically traumatized by a demon and survived. Whether this is indicative of a corruption of the soul or an unhinged awakening within them may vary.

 While not specifically requiring knowledge of magic to pursue, the path of the demoniac does lend itself to continuing spellcasting training that they already know.

Demoniacs, as willing servants of a demon lord, willingly condemn themselves to the abyss upon death, making resurrection particularly difficult.

They do, however, gain a special mark signifying that bond, which they can use to call upon their demonic patron to supplement their magic, allowing them to cast a single spell each day without expending it.

The powers of this path are tied wholly to the demon lord they worship, however, meaning they must perform the obedience required by their pact in order to continually benefit from those abilities.

By allowing a demonic entity to possess them, these mystics can improve their natural attributes and gain demonic resistances and immunities, depending on how powerful they are. However, doing so means the demon has a chance to ravage their mind, making their behavior erratic after the pact ends for a short while.

Like many deific obedience-related prestige classes, this path puts the fiend-worshipper on the fast track to unlocking the full powers of their obedience, which vary by the demon lord, but are all powerful abilities  consisting of three different possible tracks depending on which they find more useful, with three different progressive abilities for each track.

Unlocking the secrets of demonic summoning, these mystics can call upon a variety of demons to aid them in battle, and the more powerful they grow, the more powerful the beings they can call.

Finally, the most powerful demoniacs have reached an apotheosis of sorts, being able to briefly transform into a unique demonic form, gaining various standard demonic abilities and a new feature, namely wings, gills, or some form of natural weapon. Additionally, evil pervades their bodies, making their attack chaotic and evil-aligned.

Looking for a demon-themed antagonist or villainous protagonist? This archetype might be what you’re looking for. Given the variety of obediences that could be obtained and the various buffs which they can apply to themselves each day, this prestige class works with so many different builds, everything from cunning deceivers devoted to Nocticula, to vicious pyromancers under Flauros, and so on.

 Regardless of what walk of life they come from, those who willingly choose this path are some of the more dangerous cultists of the demon lords, not only performing depraved acts for their demigod, but also trying to become fiends themselves. The only question is what drove them to become such avatars of sin.

  Eagerly accepting a pact to improve their fecundity, the farming colony of Halpas indeed gained a blessing of an accelerated birth rate and crop yield so as to outbreed the goblin raiders. However, this came with a price, for their fiendish patron was the Bloody General, demanding that all members of the colony learn the art of the demoniac, breeding a quasi-mortal army of vessels on the material plane.

 Almost resembling his fiendishly-empowered skinstitch guardians, Mayor Yendle is a devotee of the Ragman, demon lord of isolated communities, dark rituals, and constructs cobbled together from whatever is on hand. Though he keeps his patchwork body hidden, the mayors other activities are less easily concealed, leading his community in rituals of dark sacrifice of outsiders.

 As if being a stranger in a strange land wasn’t enough, Forvag the wyvaran lives in fear that his mother, a cultist of The Queen of Burning Skies will find him, for the next ritual for her ascendance to demonhood requires “blood of the first-born”. Anyone might be her agents in disguse, so he keeps running, eager to keep that goal out of her reach and to live free.

[wanderingmoonsword]

Herald of Tsathogga

Heralds of Tsathogga are frightful aberrations made up of a monstrously large frog with a multitude of tentacles instead of limbs and ominous eyes that are too large even for a frog of this grotesque size. The tentacles can inject a paralytic toxin and their tongue can lash out thirty feet to drag some unfortunate soul close. Their bellowing croaks can shatter crystal and glass or stun and deafen opponents, too. In a nice bit of attention to detail, these bloated aberrations are unable to move if they strike with too many tentacles in one round. All in all, the heralds of Tsathogga are physical powerhouses that are imposing and dangerous monsters, especially if they can use their swim speed to their advantage to catch a party from an unexpected direction, but like a lot of singular monsters, they’re vulnerable to a high-level party that can direct significant attention their way and focus to bring them down, especially parties armed appropriately to get past their regeneration.

If you use Tsathogga or a similar malign power, the heralds are straightforward to integrate once the party reaches the point where a CR 15 encounter isn’t just a messy way to die. Slightly reskinning them can also make these monsters appropriate servants or provide links to a different fell influence, such as other members of the Cthulhu Mythos. High powered intellectuals these monsters are not but they make excellent looming threats and strange horrors on the edge of civilization, a dark presence hanging over the campaign in the thrall of some even more terrible menace.

Having pursued the trail of a mysterious cult across a continent, a party of investigators have found themselves on the slopes of a mysterious, cursed mountain. As the cultists conduct their ritual above, something ancient and terrible stirs in the muck and fens below. Do they – can they – put down the monstrous frog beast before it wreaks havoc on nearby towns or is pursuing the cult and putting them to the sword the higher good? Would that even stop the creature the cultists call their master’s herald now that it’s begun to awaken?

Worshipped like a frightful god by several lizardfolk tribes, a herald of Tsathogga is known as the Whispered Scar by its followers for the livid marks left across its face – the creature disdains gender – from a battle with a pyrohydra decades ago. Still hungry for revenge, rumors of several hydras in the herald’s swamp have the beast slowly waking from its torpor and driving its followers into ever more aggressive searches for the brutes. In the meantime, the awakening herald has called for meals to slake a grave hunger, sending the lizardfolk into the countryside to drag screaming victims to their monstrous deity.

Toppled and razed by zealots of the Hanged God, the temple of Tsathogga known as the Decaying Ziggurat is little more than a pile of rubble soaked in the blood of crusaders and demoniacs alike. Gravely offended at the disruption of his plans no matter however many of the mortals responsible may be dead already, the demon lord raises a dread herald from the muck, mire, and blood, setting it the goal of destroying the trade enclaves along the coast of the Shining Sea.

- Tome of Horrors Complete 367