Cult of Glasya
Despite her lacking personal power, the number of cults devoted to Glasya were countless. She had a large following of mortals even before her rise to archdevil, which eventually came to rival the numbers of even the most worshiped Lord of Hell.
Ironically, even though she was the child of an embodiment of law, part of Glasya's appeal came from that she symbolized rebellion against oppression. Glasya was a dissenter within aristocracy, simultaneously an outsider and born into the system, yet despite every obstacle around her, managed to prevail. Her cults emerged and prospered in places of civilization where order and tradition were paramount because she presented a way for the persecuted, exploited, downtrodden, her most ardent supporters, and others that felt trapped by familial, social, or cultural circumstances to escape the rules and even rise above them. Mortals who went up against overwhelming odds with bold plans often drew her attention, and in some cases even her respect and patronage.
Asmodeus had decreed, partially to make her workload heavier, that Glasya had to capture mortal souls through deals and legalities, making sure that fulfilling her cultists' desires didn't break legal precedent. Her followers wanted power, money, or love, but wanted to get it without violating the rules, so Glasya and her agents offered advice on how to manipulate and circumvent the law through technicalities and escape clauses. Glasya was an expert when it came to exploiting the law for her own gain and helped others turn the system against itself to obtain more power. Her followers typically clustered in places of political unrest, nations on the brink of societal conversion to lawful evil. In exchange for devoting their souls to Glasya, her agents would also scour contracts made with other devils for loopholes and ways to void them.
Thieves, as well as criminals in general, were followers of Glasya, but corrupt nobility in particular fell into her sphere of influence. She was the patron of those who wanted power that was both absolute and legitimate, both legally and culturally, such as ambitious royals that rose to power when their parents died in an "accident". Gangs of criminal kenku also made deals with Glasya, as did goblins that planned to rebel against their hobgoblin masters. She gave her followers the power to step though shadows for a short time,[6] steal more efficiently, siphon energy, and teleport to escape danger, although the lattermost power inflicted horrible pain on those who used it.
Other Followers:
Glasya had shown interest in societies where traditional gender roles were upheld, and her cults often recruited female figures near men of power―mothers, daughters, and romantic partners―and taught them how to rule from behind the throne. The influence of Asmodeus's daughter was supposed to bolster ties between family, but her interpretation of this promise was liberal at best, and the gifts she offered could be used to sever bonds just as much as they could strengthen them. Many of her followers were young adults, inexperienced and rather naïve souls full of vigour and willing to experiment. After she transformed Malbolge, Glasya managed to create a small cult following as a minor patron of corruption, growth, and agony. Her cultists could draw power from the quivering corpse of the Hag Countess, infecting themselves with her essence. This allowed cultists to grant themselves horrible mutations to enhance themselves, such as by having throbbing tumours emerge from wounds to seal them, extend their reach, or increase their speed. The cancerous flesh could also spew streams of sickening filth at others several feet away. Rituals:
Cults of the seductive Glasya typically operated brothels as a cover for their temples. Her clerics favoured the scourge as a weapon, signature instrument of previous ruler Moloch, and also had access to the bottled acids and poisons derived from the bile lakes of her realm. Her clerics could summon kalabons rather than the disgusting lemures and used them like living weapons to despoil peaceful forests, and could also call on the corrupting paeliryons using greater planar ally spells. Some were known to incorporate dark primal spirits in their rituals. Aspects:
Glasya sent out aspects either to corrupt mortals personally before bringing them to her domain or to further her plans in some other way. Only a few existed, but they mingled with all societies easily, eschewing their unpleasant domain for luxury when on the Material Plane. She had been active in Faerun long before she became archduchess, having made concerted efforts to corrupt Raven's Bluff in the past, and her aspects appeared even more frequently ever since Glasya couldn't personally visit. Their primary concerns were corrupting individuals, particularly those of great virtue, and fostering new cults to increase her power. Purpose:
All devils desired souls since mortal souls had power, and Glasya was no exception. Each archdevil could wring a different benefit from souls; Mephistopheles could use them to create hellfire for example. However, it was unclear what Glasya actually wanted with souls. Most of Malbolge's soul shells were marched off to pits filled with wriggling worms that devoured their victims before the tatter remains crawled out as lemures. After the process was complete however, the pain devils overseeing the process simply drove them off to wander Malbolge. Glasya used the souls enslaved to Malagard as subjects for twisted experiments in beauty and hideousness.
Glasya had shown interest in societies where traditional gender roles were upheld, and her cults often recruited female figures near men of power―mothers, daughters, and romantic partners―and taught them how to rule from behind the throne. The influence of Asmodeus's daughter was supposed to bolster ties between family, but her interpretation of this promise was liberal at best, and the gifts she offered could be used to sever bonds just as much as they could strengthen them. Many of her followers were young adults, inexperienced and rather naïve souls full of vigour and willing to experiment. After she transformed Malbolge, Glasya managed to create a small cult following as a minor patron of corruption, growth, and agony. Her cultists could draw power from the quivering corpse of the Hag Countess, infecting themselves with her essence. This allowed cultists to grant themselves horrible mutations to enhance themselves, such as by having throbbing tumours emerge from wounds to seal them, extend their reach, or increase their speed. The cancerous flesh could also spew streams of sickening filth at others several feet away. Rituals:
Cults of the seductive Glasya typically operated brothels as a cover for their temples. Her clerics favoured the scourge as a weapon, signature instrument of previous ruler Moloch, and also had access to the bottled acids and poisons derived from the bile lakes of her realm. Her clerics could summon kalabons rather than the disgusting lemures and used them like living weapons to despoil peaceful forests, and could also call on the corrupting paeliryons using greater planar ally spells. Some were known to incorporate dark primal spirits in their rituals. Aspects:
Glasya sent out aspects either to corrupt mortals personally before bringing them to her domain or to further her plans in some other way. Only a few existed, but they mingled with all societies easily, eschewing their unpleasant domain for luxury when on the Material Plane. She had been active in Faerun long before she became archduchess, having made concerted efforts to corrupt Raven's Bluff in the past, and her aspects appeared even more frequently ever since Glasya couldn't personally visit. Their primary concerns were corrupting individuals, particularly those of great virtue, and fostering new cults to increase her power. Purpose:
All devils desired souls since mortal souls had power, and Glasya was no exception. Each archdevil could wring a different benefit from souls; Mephistopheles could use them to create hellfire for example. However, it was unclear what Glasya actually wanted with souls. Most of Malbolge's soul shells were marched off to pits filled with wriggling worms that devoured their victims before the tatter remains crawled out as lemures. After the process was complete however, the pain devils overseeing the process simply drove them off to wander Malbolge. Glasya used the souls enslaved to Malagard as subjects for twisted experiments in beauty and hideousness.
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