Cults of Glorantha

Babeester Gor

When the Gods War perverted the world through Chaos, the earth brought forth its own grim defender. Born from her mother’s corpse, Babeester Gor arose axes in hand, body ritually scarred to carry deadly magic. She was the cleansing force that slew all kin-slayers, all oath-breakers who swore by her mother and everything which desecrated the sacred places of the earth. Babeester Gor was merciless and cruel: once she slew so many defenceless residents that she waded breast-deep in the gore, drinking the blood of victory and slaughter.

Every important temple to the earth deities is guarded by Babeester Gor’s Initiates and includes a shrine to her. She is usually represented in temples as an iron axe decorated with scalps, genitals and other grisly trophies.

Babeester Gor is the goddess of Revenge and Terror and is worshipped wherever Ernalda is worshipped. She serves Ernalda and all Earth Goddesses as their special honour guard and avenger. Her Initiates can be found at major Ernalda holy places as feared guardians and axe maidens.

Runes Death, Earth.

Mythos and History

Babeester Gor is Born (Resonance 80%) – The Evil of Chaos. The Necessary Punishment for Traitors and Kin- Slayers: When the gods started to die a new force was needed – one that would be as cruel as the ravages of Chaos that cared little for kith, kin or mercy. So arose Babeester Gor who came forth with the weapon called Death, forged into her iron axe.

First she killed all those who watched her violent birth and did nothing. Next, she sought-out those who had turned on their kin – fathers who had killed sons, brothers who had killed sisters and so on. She brought death to all of them. Then she hunted down the oath-breakers; those who had pledged to help her mother when the Great Darkness overtook everything and then went against their oath. She seized each one in turn and cut-off his hand and fed it to him, as a reminder that every oath is sustenance and every oath is binding. Next, she sought-out the traitors; those who betrayed the Storm Tribe.

Eurmal feared for his own life, then, and hid but Babeester Gor found others who had become traitors and used her axe to teach them new forms of loyalty that they would not so easily betray.

When she was done, she wept, for there was nothing left to kill. All around her was death and the blood she had spilled – enough to create many oceans. So she gathered her trophies of her kills: scalps, ears, noses, teeth, genitals… and fashioned things to wear from them. Then she went to her mother’s house and stood guard at its door, axes in hand, trophies decorating her body, waiting for anything living that might come seeking death, which she would gladly deliver.

Nature

This is a blood-soaked cult for female avengers and guardians. It believes in retribution at the most extreme levels and teaches utter intolerance for the treacherous and disloyal. Its members are called Axe Maidens and they act as the guardians of Orlanthi earth shrines and temples. Babeester Gor has no temples of its own but every earth temple has a shrine to Babeester Gor, her representation generally being a well-used, sometimes blood-encrusted, hand axe or hatchet.

Organisation

The cult is not numerous but it is found wherever the cults of Ernalda, Maran Gor and Asrelia are found. It is a femaleonly cult and it holds appeal for those women who have been wronged, violated, suffered treachery or some other injustice. The extreme nature of Babeester Gor makes it a feared cult, because its most ardent, vehement Axe Maidens cannot be reasoned with and show no mercy.

Membership Standard.

Initiates are known as Axe Daughters and to successfully initiate into the cult they must have taken the life of someone who was either a kin-slayer, traitor, oath-breaker, rapist or murderer. A trophy from that person must be displayed to the cult priestesses.

Acolytes are known as Axe Sisters; there are no further conditions for reaching this stage.

Rune Lords and Rune Priests are the same thing – Axe Maidens.

Common Magic

The cult teaches the following Common Magic spells: Bladesharp, Detect (either Kin-Slayer, Murderer, Oath- Breaker, Rapist, or Traitor), Fanaticism, Hand of Death, Parry.

Higher Magic Standard.

The cult provides: Berserk, Dismiss Elemental (Gnome), Elemental Summoning (Gnome), Fear.

It also provides:

Axe Trance

Duration 15, Rank Acoylte, Touch

The spell can only be cast on an axe. Each point of Magnitude increases the weapon’s damage, AP and HP by one for each point of the spell’s Magnitude. The Babeester Gor cultist also gains +1 to her Strike Rank whilst using the tranced axe. This spell is compatible with other damage-enhancing spells such as Bladesharp.

Great Parry

Duration 15, Rank Initiate, Touch

Cast on any weapon, the weapon’s Size for the purposes of parrying, increases by one step: thus a hatchet would increase from Small to Medium and a Battleaxe from Medium to Large. The spell is compatible with other damage enhancing spells such as Bladesharp and is also compatible with the Parry Common Magic spell.

Slash

Duration 15, Magnitude 2, Progressive, Touch

This can only be cast on slashing weapons. Each instance increases the weapon’s damage by the spell’s Magnitude. It is compatible with other damage enhancing spells.

Gifts and Compulsions

The cult offers no Gifts save the opportunity to take revenge on those who would defile, rape, murder and be treacherous. However, as the Pact with Babeester Gor deepens, so the worshipper becomes more and more psychologically unstable. This instability manifests itself in uncontrollable rages (the percentage of the Pact being the chance that a rage cannot be controlled if the cultist is provoked); paranoid suspicion and the frequent urge to spill blood, showing no mercy. Truly dedicated Babeester Gor cultists are a terrifying spectacle.

Cult Skills

All Axe and Polearm based Combat Styles. Athletics, Evade, Lore (Babeester Gor), Perception, Track, Unarmed.

Allied Cults

Ernalda and Maran Gor are allied cults. Ernalda will teach healing spells and Maran Gor teaches Blast Earth and Shake Earth.