Shard of Shadow
The Shard of Shadow was a cult dedicated to the worship of Levistus in Port Nabucco that rose to prominence in the Y1060s and controlled much of the city for over a decade. Their defeat made the adventuring party Fiend's Bane famous across the Aquatic Kingdoms.
History
Background and Origins
In the mid-Y1000s, Port Nabucco gained status as an industrial hub due to its proximity to both natural and magical resources. Business-friendly policies passed by the Volian parliament consolidated power in the hands of the wealthy to a degree not seen since before the Volian Revolution. The artisan guild systems of the city were owned by a small handful of conglomerates run by wealthy tycoons. One such tycoon was Abigaille Fenena, head of the Fenena Conglomerate, which oversaw large portions of the logging and shipbuilding industries in southern Voli. In Y1053, she discovered that lumber from a certain region of the Volian Woods had an unusually strong magical energy signature, and tracked the source to a reclusive conjurer known only as Son of Judas. He offered Fenena a pact for lifelong prosperity in exchange for regular bodily sacrifice, to which she quickly agreed. Fenena and her high-ranking company officials began worshipping Levistus in secret, forming the upper priesthood of the Shard of Shadow.Underground Years
In the early days of the cult, the priesthood sourced their sacrifices from day laborers working in the Volian Woods and the dry docks of Port Nabucco. The cult targeted industry competitors in particular, and used intimidation and extortion tactics to coerce other business owners into either merging with her company and joining the cult or paying protection. Fenena also purchased a publishing press to spread misinformation about the workers' deaths and disappearances. One persistent rumor was an increase in dinosaur attacks in the local woods; this created a market for the Fenena Conglomerate to hire poachers as "protection" while offering both dead hunters and dead dinosaurs as blood sacrifices to Levistus. (The company also marketed the byproducts of dead dinosaurs as consumer goods; furniture, accessories, and art from this era using dinosaur leather and bones can still be found today.)Rise in Popularity
By Y1058, the Fenena Conglomorate had become the wealthiest company in Volian history. Abigaille Fenena spent her money lavishly, cultivating a personal image of glamour and success. Rumors of her occult practice had begun to spread, but rather than tarnishing her reputation, they seemed to bolster her reputation among the middle and upper classes. Many small-scale merchants even joined the Shard of Shadow in secret, in the hopes that Levistus's fortune would visit them as well. That summer, a crime wave began that targeted Port Nabucco's upper-class citizens and their businesses. Robberies, arson, and mysterious disappearances and deaths seemed to target every business except Fenena's. (In reality, several branches of the Fenena Conglomerate were affected by the crime wave, but these were never covered by the cult-owned major newspapers of the city.) Many witnesses to these crimes recounted seeing a strange elven woman with a scarred face disappear into the shadows shortly before or after the events occurred. Conspiracies about her identity ran rampant until her arrest in February of Y1059. She admitted to being a mortal avatar of Nick Shadow, before escaping the heavily guarded prison with near-supernatural speed and fleeing the city.Height of Power
Afterwards, the Shard of Shadow became a mainstream influence in the city. The cult of personality around Abigaille Fenena and the atmosphere of fear across the city led many middle- and lower-class residents of Port Nabucco and the surrounding towns to pledge themselves to the Shard. Workers for certain companies under the Fenena Conglomerate were pressured to live in company-owned neighborhoods, read newspapers and other publications laced with pro-Shadow propaganda, and center their lives around their jobs until they were convinced to join the cult. High crime rates in the city continued, this time largely perpetrated by cultists against non-members and covered up by the conglomerate-owned presses.Culture
The priesthood of the Shard of Shadow espoused protection to its members through a practice they called "living martyrdom." Since Nick Shadow demanded bodily sacrifice to achieve success, members were expected to make their physical labor available to the cult leaders whenever called. The "living martyrs" worked long hours on unpredictable schedules, often logging or working construction beside lesser devils (whose presence was said to be proof of success). Magical charm was often used on those with low morale. Those who died of exhaustion or on dangerous jobs were treated as failures, as their inability to meet Nick Shadow's demands was seen as a lack of devotion that prompted the devil to take their lives.
Disbandment
In the summer of Y1071, a group of wandering adventurers dedicated to the eradication of fiends traveled to Port Nabucco to investigate the occult practices of the city. Their leader, Mikhail Vanderaa, was an Aasimar Paladin known for performing celestial miracles in Scalados. In addition, the group's wizard, Simone Arrowfern, was the cousin of famous Port Nabucco revolutionary and former prime minister Angie Arrowfern. Many members of the Shard of Shadow were reluctant to harm an agent of the gods or a relative of a national hero. Eventually, a mole from within the cult relayed enough information to the party to lead them to the locus of the cult's power deep within the woods. They defeated "Son of Juda" (a mortal avatar of Levistus) and his army of devils, closed the arcane portal to Gehenna, and banished Levistus to an imprisonment in the Nine Hells that lasted nearly forty years.
Once the high priests of the Shard of Shadow lost their power, the cult quickly disintegrated. Abigaille Fenena fled the city before the adventurers' return. Several days later, her body was recovered from the sea cliffs outside Sinks Grove. Local officials declined to investigate her death and ruled it a maritime accident.
DISBANDED/DISSOLVED
Levistus, known locally as Nick Shadow, has long been a popular figure in Volian stories and legends. Unlike many other archdevils, he is often portrayed glamorously or alluringly. Several of Port Nabucco's most famous and handsome actors portrayed Nick Shadow in stage plays in the Y1040s, and a successful copper novel series in the Y1050s featured him as the male lead in a dark romance. This cultural presence laid the groundwork for sympathetic public response to his worship.
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