Cult of the Black Goat by Chad Watson via Midjourney
The Cult of the Black Goat worships
Shub-Niggurath as a perverted fertility goddess. Its members revel in lust and gluttony and often react to any interaction with anger and aggression for while they are not necessarily stupid, their raw emotions rule rather than intellect. Their cult rituals seem like bloodthirsty orgies to outsiders.
Many of
Shub-Niggurath's cultists are lowly deviants, rejected from society as perverts or lunatics. Higher-class devotees often start as dilettantes and hedonists but soon make the changeover to full, paranoid madness. Most members eventually become depraved and licentious serial killers.
Though insane, cultists of the Black Goat generally manage to keep their madness under wraps most of the time, allowing them to appear normal around others. They live a secret life, in which they are devoted to the Goat, alongside a normal life, in which their neighbors and friends may have no idea about the awful horrors beneath the surface.
Like other Mythos sects, the cultists of the Black Goat are not focused on any kind of coherent afterlife; their reward is in the here and now. Indeed, the cult's massive orgies are their rewards. Finding new members increases the pleasure and depth of these demented worship services, in which the awful offspring of the Black Goat take full part. Constantly seeking new meat for their goddess's pleasure, cultists evangelize and lure unsuspecting recruits deeper into the mysteries with promises of increasingly intense carnality.
Sometimes cultists are able to build up a cult in a city or developed area, but more often they restrict their activities to the woodlands and wilderness. Depravity can be found everywhere, and the Goat is flexible and undiscriminating.
Typically, the cult leaders of the Goat are not
Human;
Shub-Niggurath prefers dark young fungi from Yuggoth, the Mythos ghouls, brain cylinders, and other monstrous forces to lead the lesser
Human mob. Monstrous minions are often more reliable, particularly compare to
Human minds, warped by the orgies and ritual of the Black Goat's worship. Also, if and when the authorities descend upon such a cult, seeding the ranks with monstrous combatants helps the cult survive. The mi-go make particularly effective masters of these cults, infusing the organization with their alien technology and using the mad humans as expendable resources.
Some cults of the Black Goat take over entire communities. In these cases, they often encourage or force most community members to cross-breed with satyrs and other monsters and drink of the mother's milk, thus devolving into monstrosities themselves. In due course, entire villages of monsters can arise in which everyone is a Mythos satyr, ghoul, or other hybrid. The most deformed villagers stay in hiding except after dark, of course, while those who look more normal wear clothing in an attempt to conceal their true natures. If the cult is careful, other folks may travel through or even visit the cursed land and never know the truth.
Gifts of the Black Goat
Cultists of the Black Goat might have access to any of the following benefits.
Fertility: The cultists' fields, animals, and even their persons are all subject to the influence of Shub-Niggurath's horrific fertility powers. Their cattle might all birth triplets for milking and slaughter, though these offspring are likely to be two-headed or otherwise deformed.
Frenzy: The cultists' total devotion to their emotions allows them to go berserk in combat, ignoring their own safety in their bloodlust. This makes them surprisingly dangerous in a fight, even when unarmed. They often become barbarians and choose the Path of Delirium. They favor the Frenetic Haste, Inhuman Shriek and Star Strider features.
Gift of the Mother: Shub-Niggurath often gives her cult leaders and those who have done her services special "presents": living horrors they can (mostly) control and keep for their own. These monsters include mutated animal companions, outer mutant familiars, and even dark young.
Milk of the Mother: Shub-Niggurath's own maternal secretions have amazing mutagenic powers through Milk of Shub-Niggurath.
Treasures: Goat cultists led by the fungi from Yuggoth can sometimes procure magical items from them.
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