Feedback would be gratefully appreciated.
The "Jonstown Compendium" entry I posted was about an encounter with an Uz of this school, whose enemy was "Pain".
(NB: This entry describes what Zorak Zoran "really" is. This is what the Light-Eaters believe. No-one else believes this, and very few Uz even know this is what the Light-Eaters believe. So don't go throwing out all your old myths...)
Background:
There are those who know the hidden face of Zorak Zoran. To most Uz, and all non-Uz, ZZ is a madman and berserker, consumed with hatred and lusting for destruction. This is because they do not understand ZZ's nature.
Zorak Zoran is commonly thought of as a demon, or a troll, or a god. Zorak Zoran is none of these things. Zorak Zoran is the vengeance of Wonderhome. Zorak Zoran is every urge and passion that Subere sends forth to her grandchildren, driving them to recreate the true darkness that is Wonderhome.
All Uz, thus, share in Zorak Zoran. Every time an Uz does anything which strengthens Wonderhome, or weakens Hurtplace, or makes Hurtplace more like Wonderhome, that Uz is the teeth of Zorak Zoran in the world, though she knows it not.
Some Uz share more deeply. These are the ones who worship Zorak Zoran as a "god" or "demon", and devote themselves to war and destruction. They rampage through Hurtplace, tearing it apart at the boundaries, weakening it for the day when Subere rises and shakes the universe, leaving nothing but the holy Darkness.
And there are a few who follow the true path of Zorak Zoran. In them, Subere will awaken a single, driving urge--to destroy one specific part of Hurtplace. They will be driven to find this thing and devour it, changing it to Wonderhome within them. Subere will send them through all the worlds, devouring what is wrong and leaving clean space for Hell to be built.
The Cult:
Skills: stealth
The Light-Eaters are solitary Uz. A full Light-Eater travels either alone, or with an apprentice (one apprentice only). The apprentice gradually learns the disciplines of the cult, as well as appropriate physical skills. (A full Light-Eater can use his "become darkness" discipline to travel unseen; the apprentice uses mundane stealth, assisted by the master's powers).
In time the apprentice can learn the cult's Secret. When this happens, the apprentice will discover what single aspect of Hurtplace he must hunt and devour. This might be anything which is not found in Wonderhome. Most commonly it is light, heat, or some variant--that is why the cult is commonly known as the "Light-eaters". But there are many possibilities. The Jonstown Compendium describes an encounter with a troll whose enemy was Pain, which he sought and devoured. Other mystics might seek Chaos, or Dissension, or Disease, or Aldryami, or Chaos, or Infertility, or Dark-Trolls, or anything. No mystic can know or influence, in advance, what his enemy will be. (Until he learns the Secret, he accompanies his master and helps to devour the master's enemy.)
>From then on, he will go on quest after quest to find a particular instance
of the enemy, destroy it, and go on to the next one. He will destroy the
enemy wherever convenient, but will always have a particular goal in mind.
For example, a particular cultist whose enemy was Fire might at a particular
time be on a quest to destroy the sacred flame in a particular Yelm temple.
He would cheerfully devour any other fire he happened to come across, but
would not feel compelled to do so, and could pass flames by when
expedient--but he would obsessively work towards destroying that one
particular flame that Subere had sent him towards. When a cultist devours
the object of his quest, he immediately knows what his next target is. The
target may be in any world; he can patiently take all the time he needs to
reach and devour it, provided that all his efforts are directed to that
goal. The goal may be spectacular (devour the flame in the brazier burning
before the throne of the Red Emperor), trivial (go to Apple Lane and devour
the flame burning on the candle sitting on the innkeeper's table), or
anything in between.
The cultists are almost invariably Uzko or their variants (hot trolls, snow trolls, etc.). It is not unheard of for a superior trollkin to join the order (usually a twin-birth who is "trollkin" only by legal convention). No female cultists have ever been known, though they are possible. It is possible that there are Uzuz cultists, but if so, they almost certainly spend all their time in one Otherworld or other.
A cultist usually shows some obsessive behavior while maturing (not unlike our "obsessive-compulsive disorder"); they are often initially drawn to the conventional Zorak-Zoran cult, or other similarly single-minded fringe practice. From time to time a full Light-Eater will come to a community and let them know he is willing to take on an apprentice; the Great Mother will usually know if there is a particular Uzko who is suitable. Just as often, the apprentice-to-be will feel compelled to run away from home, and will encounter the Master in the wilds.
Game ideas:
A Light-Eater could be a single encounter, a chance flavor-building incident (as in the Jonstown episode), or a hook for a full episode.
The Light-Eater might suddenly appear and take sides in a combat (on either side), then vanish--he's always available if you need a deus ex machina! He might also be the enemy in a mission (e.g. the mysterious troll who's known to be assembling an army to attack the heroes' home), or the leader or patron (hiring the heroes to assist him in his current quest). He might simply commission the heroes and vanish--sending them on a mission which will assist his quest in some obscure way, which the players might never discover.
Given how solitary and obsessed the cultists are, the cult isn't really suitable for PCs. Just as well, since we threw out the mysticism rules...
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