Heron's Feather Writes In Blood
Slavish adoration of the Black Heron is not limited to those in her production. There are those that devote themselves to her worship completely, often in return for a dark benediction. Cultists across Creation whisper of the great Princess in a dozen names: the Shadow That Dances Armageddon, Crowmother and Rose-Lipped Maiden. Her cult is not one discrete organization, but certain commonalities are known, to those who keep track of their deeds.
Princess Magnificent with Lips of Coral and Robes of Black Feathers is worshiped by those who believe in art for art's sake, who surrender themselves to the need to be perfect, for those who will do anything to shine brighter than their peers. Typically a cultist can be recognized by tattoos, of wings on the shoulder-blades, inked gore on eyelids, or otherwise stylings of black-feathered birds.
The rituals to invoke the blessings of the Black Heron are all elaborately staged Shogunate-era dances under new or blood moons. They require the sacrifice of a rival or competitor on the part of the cultist. Victims are slaughtered ritually and then their blood is worn as a new layer of makeup, or spread like paint in a beautiful flourish. These rituals are difficult to enact and are inconsistently reliable, as sources on Shogunate-era dances are sparse. If you are lucky and your dance merely bores the Princess Magnificent, she will not respond. If you aren't and it offends her, she will possess you and you will die. Very seldom does she actually respond.
Examples of this cult include:
East of Cherak on a bay of the Inland Sea lies the city of
Oolaun, a comatose stone-hewed place sloping down to iron water between white cliffs. It barely rises to the category of "small city" and was known for mining and fishing, until contact with the rest of the world stopped for five months, before resuming as normal. But all is not normal. The town has been taken over by a death cult that worships the Princess Magnificent. The cult is led by an old necromancer and his cabal of ghostly peers who wish a restoration of the great regional art the city was once known for. The whole town has been inducted - and those few that aren't members have been killed or hide away in fear, mounting a paltry resistance.
Oolaun's town center is built around an old coliseum that used to be used for bullfighting and has now been repurposed for bloodsport choreographies where the youth artfully butcher each other for the amusement of the the elders and the glory of the Princess Magnificent, who is herself turning an eye to the Northeastern city. Rumors are starting to trickle out of strange happenings in Oolaun, but none thus far have taken it seriously.
The greatest actress in Gem,
Wasima Ayatol is a predator sapping the life from its theater scene. For three and a half decades she has maintained her supremacy and youthful looks through a mix of sorcery, politicking, raw chutzpah, and opportunistic murder. Would-be competitors are found and fed upon as Wasima Ayatol drains their health and desire to perform in the night. All her victims succumb to weakness and die, or otherwise give up on their dreams within days of her surreptitious feedings. Her latest victim is a young relative of the Despot, and he is rightfully upset at his favored niece's sadness - and just as eager to have someone to blame for it.
A band of
wandering monsters known as Heron's Ensemble terrorize the wooded East. They number nine and include outcaste Dragonblooded. They are identifiable by their horrible tattoos of swooping birds of prey. Where they meander towns are obliterated, lands are wasted, and the songs of carnage and insanity fill the air. They are horrible, twisted thespians of murder that delight in the most dramatic, absurd ways to wreak havoc in worship for the Crowmother--yet they seldom agree on how that should actually be accomplished and are known to sometimes disagree violently and at length over aesthetics. All nine are known to have distinct styles recognizable instantly in the carnage they inflict.
The greatest known example of this conflict is between the leader, a Water Aspect named Spring Rain Swallows Mountainside, and his second-in-command, the Princess's favored Nemissary, Fist-And-Hammer-Supremacy. Spring Rain is known for his love of nature and belief that culling the numbers of man beautifully helps bring the world closer to harmony. He is judicious and conservative. Fist-And-Hammer is a firebrand who believes that the only beauty to be found in life is that manufactured and discovered by reason, and maintains that there is a perfect equation to beauty that has yet to be discovered - he is progressive and reckless.
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(credit to
@EarthScorpion for quite a few of these ideas)
