Cult of the Kraken
The Cult of the Kraken is a radical faction of Taedi worshipers who hope to see their goddess reign supreme over all.
Demography and Population
The Cult of the Kraken does not actively recruit new members very often. In most cases they scout out more mainstream worshipers of Taedi and try to recruit the more radically inclined members, assuming they seem able to keep secrets and are willing to work within a hierarchy.
The vast majority of the Cult of the Kraken are Ojiongo, it is not forbidden to recruit a non-Ojiongo but it is rare to the point of practically being unheard of. Most of their non-Ojiongo members are installed as spies somewhere.
Foreign Relations
Nearly every civilized nation in Scaraqua that is aware of the Cult of the Kraken is opposed to it, but not everyone is vehemently opposed. While most agree that the Cult of the Kraken is up to no good, it's a debate on whether they are genuine threat or a bunch of ineffectually posturing overly flamboyant schemers.
Mythology & Lore
The First Kraken was created as a monster to force Taedi's will on everyone and everything beneath the waves.
The Cult of the Kraken hopes to resurrect the first Kraken or create some new kind of force that can tip the balance of power in Taedi's favor for millennia to come.
Divine Origins
The Cult of the Kraken claims to predate the First Kraken, having helped their mistress Taedi create the First Kraken.
Worship
Worship is in secret, occurring in isolated locations and often involving harsh act such as mortal sacrifice.
Priesthood
Most recruits are theurgists or favored souls of Taedi.
As part of initiation, new members need to perform an extremely difficult and personally costly act of loyalty. The few members inducted without divine magic from Taedi need to go even further.
These acts of loyalty are usually highly illegal, so any apostate members that turn on the Cult of the Kraken have to deal with not only their former compatriots but also face mundane law enforcement and societal shunning as their crimes are brought to light.
A lot of members of the Cult of the Kraken hide in plain sight masquerading as members of less extreme Taedi worshipers. Other blend with the general populace or do not maintain a public profile at all living in absolute secrecy.
Granted Divine Powers
All magic is prized, arcane magic is also prized. A disproportionately high number of the Cult of the Kraken is made up of dual arcane and divine spell casters. It is often the case that dual casters often focus heavily on their arcane magic, often possessing only rudimentary divine spell casting powers, just enough to prove that they have Taedi's favor.
Magical versatility is prized, but the magic that The Cult of the Kraken tends to focus on most often is necromancy.
Political Influence & Intrigue
The Cult of the Kraken will often work to seed chaos and dissension in many political and ecclesiastical powers that be. They oppose strong institutions because strong institutions would be better able to resist Taedi's might than weak institutions.
The Kraken Cultists will usually exacerbate existing political divisions in an institution and often back the underdog in ongoing conflicts.
Political interference is just a hobby. The main goal of the Cult of the Kraken is the hording of mystical power and arcane secrets.
Sects
The Cult of the Kraken organization is largely decentralized operating in several mostly independent cells. Officially they are all united, but unofficially there are factions that act as cults of personality as various cells are loyal to the vision of certain very famous, very powerful, and or very charismatic leaders.
Much as the case of many Scaraquan organizations, the Cult of the Kraken is caught up in it's own version of the Shallows Versus Deeps Political Controversy that flusters more public institutions.
Individual Kraken cult leaders all have their own differing views on what the appropriate level of interaction between their members and Scarterra is. Though when they do interact, it tends to not go well for the Scarterrans often ending in Scarterrans being drowned as a sacrifice for the goddess.
Another debate among the Cult of the Kraken is whether or not the Cult should reach out to the literal Kraken. Modern Kraken are much smaller than the First Kraken but they are still forces to be reckoned with. However they don't work well with others, even those who should be spiritual brethren. Though, interactions between the Cult of the Kraken and Greymoria's Children are often based on mutual benefit.
Type
Religious, Cult
Deities
Notable Members
Related Myths
Comments