Broodmother

Broodmothers are unique demons created from women within the Cult of the Great Mother similar in many ways to the Daemon Princess's created by the Greatmother. As much as a title of status and supremacy as it is a species, these bloated creatures are similar in function to Imp Mothers, save for the type of offspring they produce. The main source of demons born into the cult are produced from these creatures.

There are many many Broodmothers within the Cult. The first and greatest of which is Greatmother Lucaerna, who alone holds power over all others. Within the Cult of the Great Mother, the Greatmother is known as the 'Broodmother', while lesser Broodmothers are referred to as Annunake, or ‘Blessed Judges’ in Old Darnassian.

## Creation

The most common means is by birthright. All demons born of the lineage of Lucaerna are invested with Her power and are under her influence, As such, some portion of them inevitably go on to breed themselves, perhaps out of imitation of their mother or seeking the same binding of loyal subordinates who cannot meaningfully disobey them. The offspring born of this second generation are also invested with The Presence of the Greatmother, but to a smaller degree, and their potential power is diminished as the ties that bind them to the Greatmother are weakened by genetic distance. Of this second generation, those that breed will create the third generation removed from the Greatmother. These demons tend to be the most independent and willful of the Shal’dari, but with their distant relation to Lucaerna, they risk going rogue. To ensure this does not happen, the Greatmother will personally summon back select members of third generation demonesses who have a notably strong connection to The Presence. Those who return to her and are filled with the fecund power of the Greatmother Herself, growing into a Broodmother almost immediately.

Others who become broodmothers do so by having all of the gifts and curses taken into their bodies at once for the process to begin. At this point the women who survive are given a mate which triggers the process. As this happens they gradually develop urges of extreme hunger and heavily mutate, eventually becoming fully-fledged broodmothers after devouring massive amounts of flesh, even from their kin or cultsworn demons and grow to a fantastic size, often developing extra breasts, hooves, claws, or other demonic features. It is said that this is done in imitation of the ascension of the first and greatest of the Broodmothers, the Greatmother Herself.

Once a Broodmother takes in a litter, it will gestate over the course of roughly twelve to fifteen weeks. Broodmothers give birth to a large litter at once, between ten and fifty newborn at a time, and are tended to by Handmaidens. These young emerge from the wombs of their mothers as older infants, often already able to barely walk, and grow rapidly in their first days and weeks of life. A broodmother will birth thousands of demonic young in her lifetime, and will produce in a perpetual cycle until they either deplete themselves by failing to take in sufficient nourishment or are slain.

## Role in the Shal'dari

The purpose of the Broodmothers, aside from facilitating the growth of the Shal’dari is to serve as nexuses of The Presence of the Greatmother, and as such their will is not truly their own, and each one of them has a significant portion of the Greatmothers power invested into them. Through this link, all demons born to them are bound to the power and intellectus of the Greatmother as if she had given birth to them herself, and cannot disobey. In addition, the Greatmother may fill them with power and energy such that their wombs overflow, and they birth all of their young they possibly can, the new offspring already grown.

The Broodmothers then serve as living nodes of control; all demons, mortals, or other born of the Broodmothers cannot meaningfully disobey them much the same as they cannot truly defy the Greatmother and within roughly 100 miles, all other demons born of Lucaernas lineage or bound to the presence will find themselves more focused and capable of hearing the will of their Goddess. More powerful Broodmothers can extend this radius

Broodmothers posses fantastic magical power, capable of great feats of sorcerous power by their desire or need. Other abilities they seem to wield unconsciously; draining life and essence with a touch, binding demons to their will, and the ensnaring of mortal minds by mere presence and the dominating compulsion to breed. In addition, as bearers of all of the Gifts and Curses of the Greatmother, they are protected by Her power, and thus are shielded from most forms of magical attack.

### Other Roles

Broodmothers also serve within the militant orders of the Shal'dari. Each Warhost gives patronage to a Broodmother hailed as an *Annunake*, which means *Blessed Judge* in old Darnassian. Serving as the focal point of religious observance as an proxy for the Greatmother, the spiritual importance of the Broodmothers is only superceded by their importance to the continuing function of the Warhosts. When a warrior is initiated into the Varak Jal, at the end of their initiation, each pairing of warriors goes before their patron Broodmother, and undergoes a soulbinding ritual to ensure their compliance to The Presence of the Greatmother and to ensure the rebirth of their soul. For in death, their souls return to the Broodmother to gestate anew, to be born again into the world once more, their knowledge and experience remaining intact even as their body ages anew.

If the Broodmother dies, no members of the host shall be reborn, as such, in the Catastrophic event one of the Annunake is slain, the Warhost is effectively considered defunct, for those demons who make up the warhost, upon their death, shall fade into the Twisting Nether, their souls never to be reborn. Remaining members may be bound to a new Broodmother, or be left to their own devices for their failure.

## Greatmother Lucaerna

The Greatmother is far beyond her children who have grown into the blessed role of birth and life, and her differences manifest in ways beyond that of merely increased fecundity and breeding production. She is something beyond a 'Broodmother', with some of her adherent sorcerers referring to her as a 'Temple Mother' or a 'Living Shrine'; a portal to the Twisting Nether in the flesh. For within Her, all life can be found.

## Notable Broodmothers

* Greatmother Lucaerna
* Lady Ereirah
* Lady Melissra
* Broodmatron Milesia
* Lady Savy'na