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Cults have captivated humanity for as long as anyone can remember. These groups can emerge as powerful, dangerous groups centered around various themes, provocations, and beliefs within fantasy settings. New cults form every day, whether intentionally or unintentionally. However, the charismatic figures who lead these cults truly define them, using manipulation to recruit and control followers. These leaders transform newcomers into eccentric zealots, political rebels, or wandering nomads.
The transformative power of cults creates opportunities for rich narrative threads, allowing players to delve into themes of belief, manipulation, and personal integrity. Whether benevolent or sinister, cults can provide compelling storylines that reflect the desires and fears of characters in your games. Each cult offers the chance for engaging narratives, moral dilemmas, and significant character development.
Recipe for Cults
Diverse in their beliefs and practices, cults have emerged in every corner of Midgard. However, in a land filled with unstable environments, political conflict, and ancient mystical forces, the Northlands of Midgard is ripe for exploring the dynamics of cults in your campaign.
Exposed to extreme environmental conditions, community isolation, and otherworldly forces, the Northlands provide a breeding ground for devoted followers and eccentric leaders offering an array of storytelling possibilities.
For the follower, there is a straightforward truth about cults. You become part of something bigger than yourself. For the people of the Northlands facing the loneliness and nihilism brought on by uncontrollable forces, a cult can offer purpose and community in a frigid land. As communities that fervently worship an object, person, or concept above all else, cults have the power to transform people’s lives. This makes the people of the Northlands easy targets for any would-be leader.
Certain elements lie at the foundation of any cults. While the specific flavor of each cult may differ, they share a core set of ingredients. Without these elements, a cult would be like any other faction.
- Core Beliefs/Obsessions
- Charismatic/Inspiring Figurehead
- Hopeless/Desperate Group of People
- Recruitment and Preservation Tactics
- Rites/Rituals and Shared Activities
The order in which these elements come together shapes a cult’s unique aspects, regardless of intentions. This means that not all cults are made equal. And not all of them deserve extermination. While fantasy gaming often depicts cults as maniacal doombringers (such as the infamous Cult of Ragnarök in the Northlands), not all cults are centered on apocalyptic themes. Here’s a Northlands cult that you can incorporate into your game, providing a fresh perspective on what “cult activity” looks like in the Northlands.
Rule of Rime
The cult known as the Rule of Rime is rooted in the harsh landscapes of the Northlands, where it venerates the forces of cold and ice. Its motto, “Rime without reason,” reflects the belief that no argument overcomes the truth that a great freeze is necessary to purify the world.
The figurehead of the cult is known as the Frostbound Oracle, a mystical leader who recently emerged from an ancient glacier. She embodies the cult’s chilling ideology and gathers followers through fear of the unknown. This cult thrives in the harsh climates of the Northlands, where their beliefs are echoed in the unforgiving landscapes. The Oracle insists that Fimbulwinter is a cheap attempt to cover the truth: that long winter isn’t a metaphorical cleansing but a literal event to reshape the world. It is to be a new age of frost and purity in Midgard, beginning in the Northlands.
Origins
The destruction of an ancient glacier does not go unnoticed, especially when a mysteriously beautiful fey emerges from its rubble. The Oracle’s arrival began a frenzy of unanswered questions among the superstitious common folk, struggling to survive a harsh and unforgiving winter. She manipulated the fear of hopelessness through her icy words and warm promises. She promised to shepherd her followers through the existential challenges posed by their icy domain, teaching them to thrive in the harsh climates of the Northlands, where the other gods have left them to die.
Figurehead
The Frostbound Oracle is not merely a leader; she is a living embodiment of the Northland’s wrath and beauty. Clad in layers of stiff, frozen robes and adorned with intricate icicle jewelry, she possesses an ethereal presence that enchants and terrifies her followers. Her skin shimmers like freshly fallen snow under the moonlight, and her eyes mirror glacial depths, instilling both reverence and fear. Those who gaze upon her often describe a sense of profound insight mixed with an unsettling chill.
She claims descent from an ancient lineage of ice spirits, believed to have been born from the first snowfall that blanketed Midgard. She tells tales of the first frost giants that roamed the lands and how her ancestors imbued the land with their magic, ensuring the presence of winter even as seasons changed. In truth, she is an ancient deathless (see Monster Vault) Fey, once known as Glaciara, who sought immortal ascension by collecting souls in dark ice effigies. She failed to complete the ritual before being trapped in a glacier by pesky adventurers many centuries earlier. After her demise, each adventurer received one effigy, swearing to keep them hidden at all costs. Now that she is free, the followers of the Rule of Rime serve as a naïve workforce to hunt down her dark ice effigies so she can complete the ritual she began long ago.
Activity
Rallies and rituals amplify the Frostbound Oracle’s message, as followers chant incantations that resonate through the icy winds, invoking her “blessings.” The Frostbound indoctrination methods involve psychological manipulation, instilling a fear of the unknown and uncontrollable. By promoting isolation, they create a sense of community among the adherents while ostracizing those who resist, making it nearly impossible for dissenters to speak out.
To secure loyalty among its followers, the cult employs a practice known as “The Shiver of Acceptance.” This initiation involves denouncing fire and confronting the cold as a symbolic gesture of embracing winter’s offerings. It instills a sense of triumph over adversity, intertwining emotional bonds to the cold and loyalty to the Frostbound Oracle’s vision. It is said the “miracle” of cold resistance is granted from the Oracle to all worthy followers. In truth, she does not grant miracles; the extended exposure to the cold builds up a follower’s natural tolerance.
Her most devout followers also undertake grueling pilgrimages known as the “Wanderings of the Frozen Heart,” where they set out to locate the Oracle’s effigies under the guise of reclaiming holy artifacts. Those who fail in this endeavor are viewed as impure and may be exiled or worse, transformed into ice statues by the Oracle.
In Your Game
As players traverse the landscape, they may stumble upon Rime followers seeking information on missing effigies or frightened commoners reciting chilling whispers of sacrifices made in the name of the Oracle. To challenge the Oracle’s machinations, players must locate and destroy the dark effigies which could either liberate or solidify her grip on the populace.
RULE OF RIME
This section outlines the cult uses the faction description block, as described in the Tales of the Valiant Game Master’s Guide.
Tiers: 1-3
Values: Sacrifice, Loyalty, Discipline
Goals: Help the Frostbound Oracle ascend and bring forth a new age of frost and purity in Midgard, beginning in the Northlands.
Motto: “Rime without reason.”
Membership: Undying dedication to the Frostbound Oracle’s preachings and denouncing false Northland Gods.
Background and Notes: The Rule of Rime venerates the forces of cold and ice by denouncing fire and confronting the cold as a symbolic gesture of embracing the leadership of the powerful Frostbound Oracle. In truth, this ancient deathless Fey seeks immortality through a ritual. Now her followers act as her workforce to hunt down dark ice effigies so she can complete the ritual she began long ago.
Adventure Hooks
Finding the missing dark ice effigies taken by the five adventurers many centuries earlier is a daunting task. Here are rumors to help your players begin the search:
- The druid in the group who originally stopped Glaciara ended her adventuring career afterward, choosing to settle down and marry. Her descendant has long lost the truth of the “family heirloom” and uses it to keep food chilled in the root cellar.
- A dwarf of notable combat skills fought at Nordheim before its fall. He embedded his ice effigy in the hilt of his sword. Rumor has it that the sword remains in the ruins of Nordheim, where its owner fell all those years ago.
- The barbarian from long ago dueled a legendary giant of Gastropnir and did not survive the encounter. Rumor has it that the same giant kept the effigy as a trophy.
- Protecting the effigies became the sole interest of the old party’s paladin after entombing Glaciara. He kept it safe for the rest of his life. Unfortunately, its dark energy slowly corrupted his mind into obsession. Rumor has it he took it with him to the grave.
- As a rogue, little held as much importance as gold, including the effigy she swore to protect. In one of her lowest moments, she lost the effigy in a bet to a tavern owner outside of Amberhall. Rumor has it that it’s on display. Anyone who can break or melt the ice “sculpture” stays for free.
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