Cult of the Great Mother

Mark of the Greatmother

The **Cult of the Great Mother**, otherwise known as **The Shal'dari** or the **Dark Faith** is a sect of worship focused on worship and veneration of the Greatmother. Founded during the Long Vigil by the once Demon Hunter known as Lucaerna Duskstalker, a former member of the Elunian [1]Sisterhood, as a way to keep the faith alive in those forlorn souls who tread the path of the dark embrace.

Nominally started for pure reasons and pure intent, over time the cult has warped into a bizarre and twisted parody of anything vaguely resembling Elunian worship. Devolving into dark magics, practices that go against everything once decreed by the Goddess, and lurid acts to further grow the races that once laid siege to Azeroth. The cult came into a solid organization in the year 31 of the standard calendar of Azeroth.

## History of the Cult

### Founding Writings

The proverbial birth of the cult came about as a result of the Writings of Dark Faith, and began with a small group of Demon Hunters under the influence of Duskstalker in the years before the return of the Legion and the ascendancy of the Illidari Demon Hunters. For during the Long Vigil, faith was needed, and a cause was appealing to many.

In the early years, the Cult's beliefs, acts, and doctrine remained fairly vague, and was based off of signs and beliefs that Demon Hunters served Elune in their own ways, and that the Light of Elune shone upon the favoured children of Elune upon the world of Azeroth. In their belief, it was demon hunters who carried the torch of faith into the outer night. Burning fel energies offered up pyres to the Goddess. During the Third Invasion of the Burning Legion, the cult began to diverge wildly from the standard and more conservative practices of its history as the original writings were amended and expanded.

The core belief of the writings was that any sacrifice was worth it, because any soul, no matter how blackened, can be wiped clean and saved by Elune for good works. And that the demon hunters were most deserving of such a penance.

### Reformation and Expansion

For much of its history, the cult thrived solely on the zealous and charisma of their leader, without much material of physical proof of the claims. Ideology and philosophy drove the faith of the initiated and formed a devoted core of followers. Their faith was finally rewarded when Ysera was saved from damnation and corruption at the hands of the Emerald Nightmare, and it was the spark that so many had been seeking. Physical proof that those engulfed in darkness could be brought back into the light. Downtrodden, disenfranchised acolytes, demon hunters, and many more flocked to the slowly spreading cause of the Shal'dari.

The writings were greatly grown and expanded, and the cult began to spread out into multiple avenues of thought. The radical mindset of the Illidari crept into the cult, and demons were first introduced into the ranks of the cult, some loyal adherents to this aberrant faith, some forcibly enslaved. The foremost Children of the Mother took their places within the burgeoning religious community.

Somewhere along the line, the direction of the cult would radically diverge, some who remember the old ways point to the arrival of the Sayaad Queen Xazariel as the driving influence behind the path the cult took. Lucaerna Duskstalker took the Sayaad into her confidence through binding, and many outside of the cult within the Illidari whispered that it was Lucaerna who was enthralled to the Demon and not the other way around. It was in this time that Lucaerna began to see the great boon of demonic servants and children of the cult who could not disobey. Lucaerna began appearing to the cult publicly pregnant with child, bearing the offspring of the Sayaad Queen, using the body to hide her actions from the greater Illidari. Nominally it was justified to the Demon Hunters of the cult as a bargain or trade, that in exchange for carrying child, the Sayaad Queen provided valuable intelligence on the Legion. It was true in a sense, and valuable knowledge flowed from the renegade demon.

From Lucaerna though flowed something else. Demonic offspring, demons birthed of an unholy union. And the influence of the demons grew over the body and over Lucaerna, causing her to retreat further into the practices of the cult and less into the destruction of the legion, remaining deep into her own desires and pleasures. The tipping point would come when Lucaerna first imposed the act upon anouther of the cult; an acolyte by the name of Shalana Starrunner, and the Demon Hunter Syraelinn. Both volunteered, but if by voice, it was not known. But it was done to grow the power of the cult. Among the demon hunters of the cult, the influence of Xazariel was seen. And so the demon hunters rose up and cast out the demon, banishing her back to Nether. Lucaerna was confronted finally, and questioned on her actions, and found glad to languish in her gravid state. The Demon Hunters, unwilling to accept such a being as their leader, broadly defected from the cult, save for a dedicated few who either agreed with her changing beliefs or did not care, seeing her ways as a valid way to combat the Legion at any cost.

### Changing of the Cult

When the Legion War finally ended, the balance of the cult had changed as they took to their final dwelling in the Cathedral of Eternal Night. Where before the Cult opposed demons, now the cult sought to grow its power by any means, discarding much of the purpose of the Illidari, while maintaining their practice of recruiting demons. This gradual shift in ideology resulted in much of the remaining mortal adherents grow more willing to engage in darker and lurid acts in exchange for power, in imitation of the High Priestess Lucaerna, and demons bound to the cult began to rapidly increase. As the newly birthed and aged demons, depraved mortals, and converted servants began to multiply.

The more offspring Lucaerna produced, the more she became enraptured with them, and the more she birthed, the more she wanted more. Stature in the cult began to become linked to the amount of offspring produced. The most influential figures in the cult became those handmaidens close to Lucaerna who bore new children, accepting the Gifts of the cult, and promulgating the practice. Demons stopped being slain by the cult entirely, instead, they would be brought back in large numbers for devouring by the handmaidens and Lucaerna. Demons became the majority of the cult.

As the Lucaerna's leadership of the cult began to grow more distant and withdrawn into her own obsessions, it was her first great daughters who took up the slack. Sinxariel, Mala’xhara, and Ereirah, and subtly, religious practices began to shift and change as it was the demons who began promulgating the faith. The Mother of all things at the head of the faith. And with the increasing number of loyal demons worshiping Lucaerna, the mortal adherents began to change in imitation. Thus leaving the final fate of the Cult in ruin; a dark and perverse thing dedicated to a facsimile of the noble purpose it once served.

It is questioned now within the cult just who is worshiped, the nominal lip service is to the Goddess, but a darker and stranger god truly is their object of worship. The Mother, who is incarnate in the Broodmother, their great leader and provider for the cult, worthy of imitation and worship.

## The Daily Practices

Those who join with the cult and take the unto themselves, and those demons born to the bloodlines, hold that in death they shall be reborn in the Mother, and shall never truly die. The eventual goal is to consume life, and feed it to the Mother, who shall gestate all who shall live, and all who shall die. An eternal existence of growth and decay fueled by the love of the faithful and the care of the Mother.

The worship of The Mother focuses on Seven Virtues of Life

* **Dedication** to your Brethren and your Broodmother.
* **Exploration** of passions.
* **Fulfillment** of childbearing.
* **Fortitude** in battle.
* **Faith** in the Greatmother.
* **Tenacity** in battle.
* **Destruction** of the Legion

And the Seven Warnings

* **Moderation** of your gifts.
* **Control** of your obsessions.
* **Regulation** of one's hunger.
* **Failure** to breed.
* **Loss** of control.
* **Selfishness** in faith.
* **Dishonor** of the Greatmother

## The Holy Orders

The cult itself is divided up into sectors, each containing several dozen mortals, and many hundreds of demons. Born, bound, or bonded to the cult, these demonic agents serve along side the acolytes to the faith and make up the body of the organization. Among each of the orders is the priesthood, who serve to guide and shape the principles of each order according to the whims of the high priests. The orders are as follows:

* The High Priesthood
* Handmaidens of the Mother
* Temple Guardians
* The Dark Brethren
* Sorcerer's Enclave
* Order of the Cycle
* Templar Brethren

### Other Influence Blocs

Aside from the Holy Orders, several groups of influence make their words known to the authorities of the faith. They consist primarily of the united children of one of the previous sires.

* The Queensguard
* Assassin Clades
* Satyr Conclave
* The Jade Sisterhood
* The Vahl’Maracht
* The Gal'vorbach

## The Presence

The Presence is an unspoken of fact of the Shadow Cult among the demonic members of the cult. It is described as somebody else seeing through their eyes, or feeling somebody watching over them. Some demons of the Cult bloodlines have even reported surges of magic or unasked for mutations or blessings at key moments. Held as proof of sanctity, those most blessed are presented to Lucaerna as Handmaidens of the Mother.

It is attributed to the Mother watching over them, but in reality, it is Lucaerna. For all demons born of her, and those born to her daughters, are linked to her intrinsically, and a tiny portion of the nigh infinite soul of the Broodmother is embedded into their essence, growing more fragmented and more distant the further down the bloodlines it goes. Through this connection, Lucaerna may seize control of the demons of the Cult, and act through them. She may sense and see through them, and through her offspring, she maintains her presence in the world. All that is known through these linked demons is known to her, and as such, knowledge flows to the Mother, and from her, to be distributed among the cult.

Through the Presence, Lucaerna may empower others. Typically this is done through the bloodlines, increasing or bestowing magical might unto those she deems worthy. To those outside of the cult who seek admission, these worthy may seek out the Marks of the Faith and inscribe them unto their bodies. Once this link has been created, Lucaerna may give her magics and power unto them. Often, these accolytes are Kaldorei, but in recent years, Trolls, Orcs, and a few select Humans have taken the gifts to themselves and been reshaped.

## The Primordial Lifeforce

Seemingly sourced from The Greatmother Herself, sorcerers within the cult may draw upon the magic known as Primordial Lifeforce as a great source of power. This blend of Fel Magic and the Element of Spirit is a volatile mixture which results in chaotic and new life.