Cult of Rovagug
Of all the gods of evil and corruption, the most hated is Rovagug, and his congregation revels in this hatred. Those who truly follow in the Rough Beast do not care about love, honor, loyalty, or material gain. They do not care about remaking the world in their own image. The only thing they seek is utter destruction. They cannot be reasoned with, nor can they be trusted. They are almost always a little bit insane; as they worship the act of destruction with no real expectation of reward, they are generally a damaged and criminal lot, maniacs and berserkers who destroy not for personal gain, but for the thrill of the act itself.
Many of Rovagug’s worshippers are orcs, ogres, and similar creatures who howl prayers to him as they cleave their opponents limb from limb. His faith is forbidden in nearly every center of civilization, no matter how liberal the populace might otherwise be. Most of his followers in cities are mad: psychopaths without the discipline to serve Norgorber or to practice the aesthetic mutilations of Zon-Kuthon, or who lack the morbid cunning of Urgathoa’s cultists. Some embrace fire and arson as tools of their terrible god, while others stand naked amid great storms or hurl themselves into volcanoes. Often mistaken for the morbid priests of Groetus, Rovagug’s prophets preach and scream at passersby, proclaiming that the world will soon end— though some are wise enough to avoid invoking the Rough Beast’s name in their rants, lest they rouse the ire of soft, civilized people. Among his more misguided cultists, Rovagug is seen as a deity of cleansing and enlightenment, destroying the old world to make room for a new one in which the faithful will be made into gods and taught to kill and destroy in strange new ways for the pure pleasure of annihilation.
Sacred rites are simple; most involve sacrificing slaves or prisoners, shouting, foot-stomping, breaking valuable items, and perhaps banging the occasional gong. However, these practices are all things invented by mortals. All that is truly required to contact Rovagug is prayer. The acts associated with prayer are irrelevant, though the god enjoys the gleeful enjoyment of destruction that accompanies them. This means two different cults might have very different ceremonies that have evolved over generations and are dependent upon their local circumstances and preferences. One might burn offerings or sacrifice them to a volcano in a dance-like procession, while another hurls offerings down upon jagged rocks and emit keening wails.
While Rovagug’s worshippers are predominantly lunatics, he also has a significant following among several other groups. Most evil gnolls worship Lamashtu, but a few tribes with territory near civilization take up arms in the Rough Beast’s name, jealously trying to bring ruin upon their settled neighbors. Some Kellids who live near the Worldwound, having seen the power of chaos sear their flesh and mutate their children, willingly embrace the taint to make themselves more formidable combatants, and Rovagug’s thoughts echo more easily in their clouded minds. Ropers see Rovagug as their creator or patron, and welcome the opportunity to instruct visitors to the Darklands in their particular philosophies about the worship of the Rough Beast, usually as they slowly chew away their audience’s limbs. Even a few fearsome Ulfen raiders organize themselves into murderous bands devoted to the lord of destruction; scarred and painted, they are considered bloodthirsty and insane even by their warlike kin.
Priests evangelize a litany of rage, ruin, and misery, teaching that there is honor in destruction, that building things is for those too weak to destroy, and that every act of bloodletting and breaking loosens Rovagug’s chains. His clergy make no useful contribution to normal society; at best they are mercenaries, though most are better suited for banditry and raiding. Even as criminals, they are unreliable at best, having little interest in gold unless they can use it to purchase tools of destruction.
The Rough Beast welcomes all who promise to destroy in his name, and his “priesthood” is a disorganized mix of doomsaying zealots, maniacs, and savages who epitomize destruction—some but not all of these are granted divine magic. The rigorous study required to master the arcane arts tends to keep Rovagug’s faithful from taking up most forms of arcane magic use.
Rovagug’s clergy see the creation of useful things as contrary to their god’s will and break what they cannot use—magic scrolls are used to start bonfires, works of art are defiled, and other items are sacrificed to the pit or the flame. The spiritual leaders of a cult or tribe sworn to Rovagug see building and crafting as fit only for slaves, and rely on raiding others for usable weapons and armor. Thus, they are responsible for the slow decline and degradation of their people’s wealth and welfare. Outnumbered or suicidal priests have been known to break an enemy’s weapons and armor as a last act of defiance, and most would rather see a fine suit of mithral chainmail broken into its component links than profane themselves by wearing it, believing finely crafted things to be an affront to their god. Occasionally, after scratching or marring such items, they may ask Rovagug’s permission to use these tools to better destroy their enemies, but such elaborate rituals of asking permission are a farce—the god doesn’t care what weapons his worshippers use.
Cult leaders are usually strong-willed and physically tough individuals, and their hierarchies are based solely on physical strength and ruthlessness. Among orcs, a tribal leader might nominally be a priest of Rovagug, though most tribes traditionally have a martial leader with a spiritual advisor. Challenges are common, and while the victor may spare the loser to humiliate them further, the loser is most often sacrificed to gain Rovagug’s favor. If the monstrous proxy of a cult cell or tribe is an intelligent, powerful creature, it may be the power behind the throne, a rival to the chief, or even the leader of the group after making a successful challenge.
On a typical day, a priest hunts in the name of their crazed lord, alone or at the head of their ravening tribe, hoping to find some living thing to kill or crafted items to ceremonially destroy. A zealous priest can whip the faithful into a destructive frenzy, ignoring hunger and overwhelming odds to bring glory and freedom to their monstrous god.
Many of Rovagug’s worshippers are orcs, ogres, and similar creatures who howl prayers to him as they cleave their opponents limb from limb. His faith is forbidden in nearly every center of civilization, no matter how liberal the populace might otherwise be. Most of his followers in cities are mad: psychopaths without the discipline to serve Norgorber or to practice the aesthetic mutilations of Zon-Kuthon, or who lack the morbid cunning of Urgathoa’s cultists. Some embrace fire and arson as tools of their terrible god, while others stand naked amid great storms or hurl themselves into volcanoes. Often mistaken for the morbid priests of Groetus, Rovagug’s prophets preach and scream at passersby, proclaiming that the world will soon end— though some are wise enough to avoid invoking the Rough Beast’s name in their rants, lest they rouse the ire of soft, civilized people. Among his more misguided cultists, Rovagug is seen as a deity of cleansing and enlightenment, destroying the old world to make room for a new one in which the faithful will be made into gods and taught to kill and destroy in strange new ways for the pure pleasure of annihilation.
Sacred rites are simple; most involve sacrificing slaves or prisoners, shouting, foot-stomping, breaking valuable items, and perhaps banging the occasional gong. However, these practices are all things invented by mortals. All that is truly required to contact Rovagug is prayer. The acts associated with prayer are irrelevant, though the god enjoys the gleeful enjoyment of destruction that accompanies them. This means two different cults might have very different ceremonies that have evolved over generations and are dependent upon their local circumstances and preferences. One might burn offerings or sacrifice them to a volcano in a dance-like procession, while another hurls offerings down upon jagged rocks and emit keening wails.
While Rovagug’s worshippers are predominantly lunatics, he also has a significant following among several other groups. Most evil gnolls worship Lamashtu, but a few tribes with territory near civilization take up arms in the Rough Beast’s name, jealously trying to bring ruin upon their settled neighbors. Some Kellids who live near the Worldwound, having seen the power of chaos sear their flesh and mutate their children, willingly embrace the taint to make themselves more formidable combatants, and Rovagug’s thoughts echo more easily in their clouded minds. Ropers see Rovagug as their creator or patron, and welcome the opportunity to instruct visitors to the Darklands in their particular philosophies about the worship of the Rough Beast, usually as they slowly chew away their audience’s limbs. Even a few fearsome Ulfen raiders organize themselves into murderous bands devoted to the lord of destruction; scarred and painted, they are considered bloodthirsty and insane even by their warlike kin.
Temples & Shrines
Rovagug’s worship is banned in most major cities, and any building discovered to be dedicated to him is usually promptly torn down by appalled neighbors. Thus, most worship is private and most shrines to him are secret, often no more than an alcove painted with a fanged mouth or clawed hand surrounded by a spiraling line. Most of his true temples are located in caves, dungeons, or fortresses held by orcs or other vicious humanoids. These temples usually hold a monster—such as a roper, a grick, or an immature purple worm—as a proxy for the god, hand-fed by the priesthood and used as a focus for worship. Typically, the temple contains a large pit, representing the Rough Beast’s prison and containing a bonfire, scuttling vermin, and the remnants of sacrifices. Though any cave near a geothermal vent is holy to the faithful of Rovagug, two places in particular capture their imagination. One is the Pyramid of Kamaria, near the city of An in Osirion; this pyramid caps the tomb of a pharaoh who worshipped Rovagug openly. The central shaft of the pyramid extends into the Darklands, and is used by cultists to trade with the monsters of the deep. The primary holy site of the faith, though, is the vast Pit of Gormuz in Casmaron, from which the Spawn of Rovagug have clawed forth and which the faithful believe leads to the prison of their terrible god. The ruins surrounding the pit teem with tribes who offer living sacrifices to the depths.Clothing
The particulars of Rovagug’s worship vary from region to region, and even his holy symbol differs, depicted alternately as a worm with great teeth, a crab with a mouth on its back, a terrible spider-legged maw, or a claw encircled by a spiral. Priests usually dress in shaggy coats dyed in strange colors—the more unusual the source of the hide, the better. Hideous animal masks and masks depicting melted faces are popular among the clergy, and some are so strange and distorted it’s hard to tell what creature the mask is supposed to represent. Priests in particularly successful tribes possess a variety of masks for different purposes, such as those worn when blessing the tribe for an upcoming battle, those designed to bring good luck for a hunt, or those donned when sacrificing a living creature.A Priest’s Role
Rovagug’s only goals are destruction and slaughter, and the same is true of his honest believers. They destroy the idols of others, break works of art, and tear down the illusions that protect others from the Rough Beast’s truths: that life comes to nothing, and that craftsmanship and artistry can’t stave off the inevitable. They want to see civilization fall and its leaders die. Many also seek the deaths of children so that the future too will perish. They believe that acts of destruction loosen the chains that bind their god, and work tirelessly toward the day when their combined atrocities will release the Rough Beast and bring the end at last. The more deluded and naive among Rovagug’s worshippers believe that they are the elect of the Worldbreaker, and that Rovagug’s freedom will mean an end to the old shackles and the rise of a new order in which his faithful will reign triumphant over their bloodied enemies. Yet those who venture far enough into the god’s faith to become his priests know the truth: achieving their goals will bring only destruction, and those who eventually free their god will receive no reward except the right to be consumed first in Rovagug’s final rampage.Priests evangelize a litany of rage, ruin, and misery, teaching that there is honor in destruction, that building things is for those too weak to destroy, and that every act of bloodletting and breaking loosens Rovagug’s chains. His clergy make no useful contribution to normal society; at best they are mercenaries, though most are better suited for banditry and raiding. Even as criminals, they are unreliable at best, having little interest in gold unless they can use it to purchase tools of destruction.
The Rough Beast welcomes all who promise to destroy in his name, and his “priesthood” is a disorganized mix of doomsaying zealots, maniacs, and savages who epitomize destruction—some but not all of these are granted divine magic. The rigorous study required to master the arcane arts tends to keep Rovagug’s faithful from taking up most forms of arcane magic use.
Rovagug’s clergy see the creation of useful things as contrary to their god’s will and break what they cannot use—magic scrolls are used to start bonfires, works of art are defiled, and other items are sacrificed to the pit or the flame. The spiritual leaders of a cult or tribe sworn to Rovagug see building and crafting as fit only for slaves, and rely on raiding others for usable weapons and armor. Thus, they are responsible for the slow decline and degradation of their people’s wealth and welfare. Outnumbered or suicidal priests have been known to break an enemy’s weapons and armor as a last act of defiance, and most would rather see a fine suit of mithral chainmail broken into its component links than profane themselves by wearing it, believing finely crafted things to be an affront to their god. Occasionally, after scratching or marring such items, they may ask Rovagug’s permission to use these tools to better destroy their enemies, but such elaborate rituals of asking permission are a farce—the god doesn’t care what weapons his worshippers use.
Cult leaders are usually strong-willed and physically tough individuals, and their hierarchies are based solely on physical strength and ruthlessness. Among orcs, a tribal leader might nominally be a priest of Rovagug, though most tribes traditionally have a martial leader with a spiritual advisor. Challenges are common, and while the victor may spare the loser to humiliate them further, the loser is most often sacrificed to gain Rovagug’s favor. If the monstrous proxy of a cult cell or tribe is an intelligent, powerful creature, it may be the power behind the throne, a rival to the chief, or even the leader of the group after making a successful challenge.
On a typical day, a priest hunts in the name of their crazed lord, alone or at the head of their ravening tribe, hoping to find some living thing to kill or crafted items to ceremonially destroy. A zealous priest can whip the faithful into a destructive frenzy, ignoring hunger and overwhelming odds to bring glory and freedom to their monstrous god.
Adventurers
Those vicious adventurers who truly follow in the footsteps of the Rough Beast do not care about love, honor, loyalty, or material gain. They may be scouts for orc warbands, lunatics seeking hidden knowledge about how to free Rovagug, or fighters so damaged by what they’ve seen and done in battle that all that is left to them is the nihilism of destruction. Whatever their backgrounds may be, they don’t care about remaking the world in their own image. The only thing they seek is utter destruction.
Rovagug’s Champion Code
The champions of Rovagug seek their master’s Great Awakening, and bend all their efforts toward the eventual decay of the prison that holds their god. Their code is simple, brutal, and direct, and its tenets include the following adages.- All things must be destroyed, but the tools of destruction will be destroyed last.
- The beautiful die first. Their loss wreaks havoc in the hearts of those who love.
- All is vanity before the tide of destruction.
- The world is a lie. The only truth is oblivion, born of storm and horror.
- Torture is needless delay. I give the gift of a quick death.
- I will die standing.
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