Membership comes from a nomination, which to be accepted, must be from an individual who has renounced the established Westroner religions, and whom has dedicated him/her self to the path of following the cult's pursuit of knowledge about the White Shadow, the Shadow Wyrms, and the originator of Shadow, the Lady of the Air.
A nominant must serve, as such, for a period of at least one year. During that time, they are requested to perform more and more horrible acts, which are intended to make life difficult for those around them not of the cult, and also to forward the campaign of fear and terror that the cult pursues.
After a year, the nominant can present them self for recognition as a cultist. They must have performed some horrible deed, which then can brag about at a council of local elders, in order to impress them for membership.
There are several levels of cultists - from the lowly simple thugs (called the despised), on up through the warrior types (called swords of the shadow), mission leadership (called the mind of the shadow), assassins (claws of the shadow), priests/priestesses (fist of the shadow), and sorcerers (flame of the shadow). All are chaotic neutral, and all can vary in level, although the despised typically are not above 3rd level.
While doing the business of their cult, all cultists are robed in simple grey robes.
Num Appearing: 2d6 (or as a mission master from the Cult decrees)
Alignment: chaotic evil
Movement: Walk 90'
Armor Class: 5
Hit Dice: 2d (12 h.p.)
Attacks: 1 (trademark spiky flail)
Damage: 1d8+2
Save: T2
Morale: 8
Treasure: None, other than mission related. Individuals - 2d6 GP each.
Special: Usually none, other than special magical conditioning which gives a +2 on all saving throws. Occasionally, some of The Despised will be given the Food of the Shadow (see below). An individual member of The Despised is called only Scum, and accompanied by a number. By vow and oath, the Despised are not allowed to speak, and often have vile, filthy rags tied around their mouths.
There are times when a mission calls for better trained members of the cult than The Despised. In those instances they are often warriors known as the Swords of the Shadow. These are lead by leaders known as the Mind of the Shadow. There will never be more than one Mind of the Shadow on a single mission, regardless of what other types of cultists are present.
Swords of the Shadow
Num Appearing: 1d6
Alignment: chaotic evil
Movement: Walk 90'
Armor Class: 3
Hit Dice: 4d (36 h.p.)
Attacks: 3 attacks every 2 rounds, Broadsword (specialized)
Damage: 2d4+4
Save: F4
Morale: 10
Treasure: None. Occasionally, a magic item for the leader of the group.
Special: Swords of the Shadow are human warriors, specialized in the use of the broadsword (THAC0 13). They will occasionally also carry darts (standard), and these may be poisoned with a burning blood poison (save vs. poison, or take 1d6 per round, for three rounds and a -2 to hit during those three rounds).
The Swords of the Shadow are lead by the blind masters known as the Mind of the Shadow. Such a leader leads via mental awareness and telepathy, which are the result of long and torturous treatments of dedicated sorcerers. They lose both their eyesight, and the ability to cast spells, in return for mental gifts the cult bestows on them.
Num Appearing: 1
Alignment: chaotic evil
Movement: Walk 90'
Armor Class: 8
Hit Dice: 4-8 d4 (number varies)
Attacks: 1 knife; 1 mind blast
Damage: Knife does 1d4, mind blast does 2d6 (see special)
Save: MU4-8
Morale: 10
Treasure: Doses of Food of the Shadow (see below).
Special: The mind blast of the Mind of the Shadow has no effect at all on any type of fey creature, elf or otherwise. It does affect the intelligent much more than those less gifted in that area. Apply as a bonus to the damage, the number of additional languages that the target is able to learn.
The Mind of the Shadow is completely blind, but is in constant communication with any Swords of the Shadow or Despised under it's command. It itself is not affected by being in the dark, or other adverse visibility conditions (including being attacked from the flank or rear), and halves the negatives applied to those it controls.
A party controlled by a Mind of the Shadow is never surprised.
Finally, there are assassins (Claws of the Shadow), priests (Fist of the Shadow), and sorcerers (Flame of the Shadow) but each of these is an individual of reasonably high level (near title level, for their profession) who have, for whatever reason, turned to service of the Cult. They are each treated as individuals, and as such, would not come under control of a Mind of the Shadow.
The magical food of the shadow is an item that will sometimes be in possession of either The Despised (rarely), or more likely the Swords of the Shadow or a Mind of the Shadow. It is usually known what doses are present, but in the case that it is not recorded, or in a random encounter, the doses can be diced for. See below for a description of the effects of this item.
Food of the Shadow (magic item)
The food of the shadow refers to a number of different items. prepared from the magical leavings of shadow creatures, which they exude when absent from the Shadow Dimension for too long. These leavings are gathered up by select members of The Despised, and prepared according to certain magical formulae, and result in hard small wafers, which may be consumed. Once done so, a roll on the following chart (1d8) is made (unless the type is known before hand, according to the scenario) to determine the effects. All effects last for only 2d12 rounds.
- Burst into flames - all within weapon's reach of the cultist are singed for 2d4 damage, and must make a save vs. breath weapon each round, to avoid catching fire. If they catch fire, it burns for 2d6 the first round, and 1d6 for each additional round until it is extinguished.
- Fly - the cultist is able to fly, at a speed of 120' per minute.
- Iron Skin - the cultist assumes the density and hardness of tough iron. Armor Class 1.
- Become the Shadow - the cultist wisps out into a shadowy form, and then disappears altogether.
- Transformation - the cultist becomes a Shadow Creature. This effect does not wear off, but is permanent.
- Legion - the cultist sprouts 4 additional copies of him/her self.
- Essence of Acid - the cultist's bodily fluids become a horrible acid. Any combat blows against the cultist will result in a rain of acid to all within a 10' radius. All take 2d4 damage, and an additional 1d4 for each of the next two rounds. A successful save vs. poison will halve the damage.
- Devoted Spirit - the cultist is affect as if by a haste spell.
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