Thursday, July 26, 2018

Mama Lesedi Gheda, the Cult Leader of Cinderheim

A warlord of Cinderheim

MAMA LESEDI GHEDA
Mama Lesedi Gheda hears the voice of the encampment’s demon queen—a voice that urges her to found a religious order capable of uniting the desert under one demonic faith. Lesedi Gheda continues to follow the dictates of the demon because what has been promised has come to pass thus far—her faith gives her power, and her power causes lost souls to flock to her service.
    • Appearance. Aasimar, skin marked with bone-white sigils, massive avalanche of curly black hair.
    • Abilities. Divination, necromancy, oratory.
    • Traits. Fervent, swayed by physical beauty.
    • Ideal. Convert all of Cinderheim to her faith.
    • Bond. Gheda loves Chana, her consort and adviser. Chana is secretly a Misericorde agent sent to usurp control of Gheda’s fanatical congregation.
    • Flaw. If her powers were to falter, Gheda’s faith would be irrevocably shattered.
    • Warband. Religious maniacs and headhunter zealots.

SPECIAL FOLLOWERS
    • Headhunters. Lesedi Gheda’s most vicious troops are headhunters who take severed heads as trophies, believing that the spirits of their foes are trapped within.
    • Witches. Gheda personally trains her most devoted followers to channel demonic power. Her witches are liable to frenzied possession by the demonic spirits they consort with.
    • Army of the dead. Although she has yet had the need to do so, Lesedi Gheda is capable of raising the corpses interred in Serpent’s Hollow as an army of zombies.

YAZAAN
Yazaan is more akin to a cult’s compound than a traditional oasis encampment. The residents of Yazaan have traveled to Cinderheim to follow the spiritual teachings of the encampment’s leader, the blessed Mama Lesedi Gheda. Yazaan does very little trade with the other encampments of Cinderheim; it is secluded within the forests that grow around its springs and its people tend to be isolationist zealots.
    • Population. The vast majority of the population are human, but a smattering of serpentfolk, hawkfolk, dwarves, and ravenkin also live in Yazaan.
    • Aesthetic. Tent-buildings crafted from wooden frames and the cured hides of lizards and purple worms.
    • Supplies. Lumber. Water is drawn from cisterns throughout the encampment and used to irrigate the surrounding forest.

NOTABLE FEATURES
    • The Crown of Thorns. The encampment is enclosed by a conjured wall of impenetrable thorny vines. 
    • Bokora Grove. This grove is a sacred place where worshipers come to dance themselves into ecstatic states in honor of Yaza, the Mad Queen.
    • Serpent’s Hollow. Serpent’s Hollow is a private graveyard within the compound where Lesedi Gheda’s most loyal followers are buried.

ADVENTURES IN YAZAAN
    • Rob the grave of a wealthy person interred within Serpent’s Hollow.
    • Retrieve the skull of a beloved friend from the clutches of Gheda’s headhunters.
    • Uncover the true nature of Yaza’s plan for Lesedi Gheda.
    • Inspire the ecstatic faithful of Bokora Grove to rise up against Mama Lesedi Gheda.