The Verdant Lodge, Vorika, Zhylasha

In this post I'm detailing the last three otherworldly entities that will be included in the revised Krevborna book as possible patrons for cults and player characters.

The Verdant Lodge, The Eternal Home

The Verdant Lodge is both an entity and a place beyond the Mortal World; it is the wellspring of the fey, and all four fey Courts pay it homage—they regard it as their honored parent and homeland.

    • Like its fey children, the Verdant Lodge’s whims are mercurial; its motivations are frequently beyond human comprehension. 

    • Creatures such as treefolk, dryads, unicorns, and bog shamblers are loyal to the Verdant Lodge, but the Verdant Lodge’s greatest champion is Bercilan, the Green Knight of the Spring Court; Bercilan leads fey war hosts—known as the Savage Hunt—against the Lodge’s enemies. 

    • Cults devoted to the Verdant Lodge either take on the duty of protecting the “thin” places where the realm of the fey touches the Mortal World or terrorize mankind with the aim of driving them from the land.

    • In particular, the members of the Ulverkrieg beseech the Verdant Lodge for aid in their war against humanity.

Vorika, The Rotmaiden

Of the major known eldritch entities from the Outer Dark, Vorika is among the most alien and enigmatic. 

    • Vorika’s avatar manifests as a tall woman encrusted with luminescent fungal growths.

    • She is a force of entropy and decay and is particularly associated with the dissolution of mortals’ senses of self and individuality.

    • Vorika's cultists tend to be recruited from among the ranks of the oppressed and downtrodden; to revere the Vorika is an act of ideological suicide that appeals only to the desperate and wounded.

    • Cults devoted to the Rotmaiden choose to meet in places rich in structural decay, such as collapsing cave systems, abandoned and dilapidated houses, and untended cemeteries.

    • Vorika rewards her most faithful by granting them strange fungal growths that mirror her own; these growths grant uncanny powers.

Zhylasha, The Lady of the Drowned

Zhylasha is a monstrous abomination from the Outer Dark who now thrives within the depths of the Khorva Sea. 

    • Zhylasha’s physical form is that of a comely woman whose lower body is comprised of a mass of tentacles; her mouth is lined with shark-like teeth.

    • Zhylasha’s cultists are mostly drawn from the ranks of sea-faring folk who regard Zhylasha as a goddess of the waves; they pray to her because they believe she alone has the power to grant mercy to those at sea.

    • In truth, Zhylasha is nourished by her worshipers’ fear of shipwreck, drowning, sea monsters, tempests and squalls, and other nautical catastrophes.

    • Cultists who worship Zhylasha often undergo ritual drowning and resuscitation to prove their faith in their “goddess.”

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Design Notes

The Verdant Lodge was inspired in equal parts by Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing, medieval tales of Faerie, and Twin Peaks. I like the idea of it being both a place and a person; I have no idea what that truly means, but it would be fun to find out in play.

Vorika has an antecedent in D&D's Zuggtmoy, of course, but the flavor has been enhanced by any number of fungal horror stories that have dropped over the last few years. The Dishonored games were also a big site of inspiration here. In one of my previous campaigns, Vorika was the big bad and her cult was bombarding Krevborna with plague cannons from a Vlaak outpost on the Bone Moon. 

Zhylasha started life as my take on Scylla, with some additional Cthulhoid weirdness and piratical themes added. There's probably a little Iron Islands in the mix, as well. Zhylasha was actually borne of a prior campaign in which the players released her from an undersea prison in the first adventure--and never regretted their choice.

Menoch, Morokain, Nergazu

Three more patrons for cults and weird warlocks in Krevborna. This time we've got an eldritch scholar of horrid secrets, a biblical lord of murder, and a disease-spreading demon.

Menoch, The Chained Scholar

Menoch is an eldritch entity from the Outer Dark that feeds on madness; it pushes mortals to seek arcane secrets and forbidden magics that are likely to drive them into the throes of insanity.

    • Menoch’s avatar takes the form of a man-like creature wrapped in chains, its face obscured by a hooded robe.

    • Menoch is responsible for inspiring mad mages to pen grimoires containing hideous truths.

    • Cults devoted to Menoch often begin as antiquarian societies and academic salons.

    • Isolated hermits and eccentric magicians who devote themselves to Menoch wear shackles at their wrists adorned with hanging chains.

Morokain, The Lord of Murder

According to the Holy Blood Bible, Morokain was the first murderer, accursed with immortality and doomed to wander as a pariah.

    • Morokain is said to be a brutish man with a brand on his forehead.

    • Morokain’s curse grants him enormous eldritch power; it is said that there is nothing he cannot kill.

    • Assassins, killers, and bandits revere Morokain as a god.

    • The Skarabasca are among the most infamous of Morokain’s devotees.

Nergazu, The Demon Lord of Plagues

Nergazu is the Demon Lord of Plagues, one of the most disturbing of Hell’s demonic princes.

    • Nergazu’s avatar manifests as a demon with a toad-like head and the wings of a carrion bird.

    • Bodily degradation and the fear it engenders are Nergazu’s sphere of demonic influence.

    • Nergazu’s cults are often small and are often comprised of outlaws, outcasts, and abject criminals.

    • Nergazu’s cults engage in activities such as poisoning wells, spreading contagions, and other acts that endanger public health.

Krom Krulek, Lilinesh, Malistrad

Three more patron entities with dangerous cults in Krevborna.

Krom Krulek, The Crawling King

Krom Krulek is a chthonic entity from the Outer Dark who claims dominion over all the abject vermin of the earth.

    • Krom Krulek’s avatar takes the form of a massive worm with a toothy maw.

    • It desires nothing save to be fed sacrifices.

    • Krom Krulek was worshiped as a ravenous and insatiable god of hunger and fecundity by Krevborna’s pagans in the days of widespread heathenism.

    • Cults who worship Krom Krulek often taken the form of fertility cults who handle poisonous snakes as part of their bizarre rituals.

Lilinesh, The Demon Queen of Excess

Lilinesh is the archetypal demonic sexual temptress. She is the befouled mistress of perversion and carnal corruption.

    • Lilinesh’s avatar manifests as an enticing, bat-winged succubus clad in leather and lace.

    • She wields pleasure as a weapon, using it to break mortals’ wills and enslave them through the lures of the flesh.

    • Each Lilinesh cult tends to focus its devotions on a specific sexual fetish, such as sadomasochism, dominance and submission, or orgiastic rites.

    • Lilinesh’s worshipers often accumulate power and influence by ensnaring well-placed victims into webs of sexual dependency.

Malistrad, The Lord of Death

Malistrad is the progenitor of all vampires; he was created when the leader of the rebellious angels was cleaved in two during the War in Heaven. 

    • Malistrad appears to be a tall human man with pale flesh and long black hair streaked with white; he currently walks among mankind using the name Zorin Malistrad.

    • As the ancestor of all vampires and the Lord of Death, he possesses godlike strength and untold necromantic power.

    • Malistrad is worshiped by some vampires and necromancers; they beseech his favor in hopes of learning the deepest secrets of the undead.

    • He is currently missing, and his whereabouts are unknown.

Damophet, Hekala, and Ilkhan

Cults thrive in the dark land of Krevborna. Here are three otherworldly entities that can serve as patrons for cultists.

Damophet, The Demon Lord of Hell

Damophet was the first devil, created when the leader of the rebellious angels was cloven in two and cast out of Heaven. Since he was the first of his infernal kind, Damophet is sometimes simply referred to as the Devil. 

    • Damophet’s avatar appears as either a loathsome goat-headed demon or a beautiful horned man with golden hair.

    • Above all else, Damophet craves power over mortals; he expects obedience from both his demonic and mortal servants.

    • The one commonality in cults devoted to Damophet is that they all aspire to empower themselves through worship of their dark master and currying his infernal favor.

    • Ironically, the worship of Damophet is itself a metaphorical set of iron shackles; Damophet ensures that he always holds dominance over those who serve his ends.

Hekala, Queen of the Winter Court

Hekala is a powerful fey queen who rules the Winter Court; she is as cold and cruel as the eternal ice that rimes her realm. 

    • Hekala’s avatar is a tall, alabaster woman with viciously pointed teeth, a gown made of ice, and a crown fashioned from human bones.

    • Hekala only extends her favor to worshipers who prove their strength and ability to endure; among her worshipers are people who resorted to cannibalism to survive, those who persevere against the elements, and other folk willing to go to extremes in order to thrive.

    • The snow elves of Eisengraz are the most numerous cultists devoted to Hekala.

    • Boons from Hekala often take the form of magical weapons, such as runeswords and other tools of prodigious violence.

Ilkhan, Demon Lord of Blood

Ilkhan is an especially warlike demon lord who is pleased by the violence promised by conflict and strife.

    • Ilkhan’s avatar appears as a man or woman, flayed of skin, wearing the bloodied clothes of a military leader.

    • The Demon Lord of Blood inspires discord because it is the kindling from which the conflagration of slaughter blooms.

    • Ilkhan is mostly venerated by soldiers, mercenaries, knights, and other members of military organizations.

    • Cultists who serve Ilkhan placate and honor their lord through mass bloodshed; singular sacrifices mean nothing to Ilkhan—it thrives on carnage.