Cult of Atrops
Structure
While the Cult of Atrops had no formal legislative, judicial, or executive structure, it operated through fragmented cells spread across Alagor. In its final decades, these cells began to gradually unify under the elusive figure of Isaac Marlow, who emerged as the cult’s de facto leader following its near-collapse during the purges ordered by Queen Aindranla. Rather than ushering in a period of violent expansion, Marlow's leadership focused on concealment and survivability—shifting the cult’s tactics to deep-cover operations, obscure communication rites, and the use of sleeper agents. His influence allowed the remaining cells to endure for nearly two decades undetected, evading both public notice and military eradication until the cult's final stronghold was uncovered and destroyed in –3 BFE.
Culture
The Cult revered Atrops, a possibly fictitious or misunderstood entity described in their lore as existing in a realm beyond death. While no verifiable evidence of Atrops's existence has ever been found, the cult's belief in it formed the basis of their devotion. Followers embraced concepts of entropy, emotional detachment, and distorted reality, seeing personal suffering and loss as necessary trials to achieve transcendence through their faith.
Rather than open worship, Atrops's name was often invoked in moments of despair, making the cult's ideology dangerously infectious in times of war, famine, or grief. Its inner rites involved necrotic reanimation, dream-binding, and memory nullification.
Public Agenda
The cilt publicly denied its existence. Its internal goal, however, was to anchor Atrops into the mortal plane using a constructed spiritual tether, most infamously the Amulet of Atrops.
Secondary Goals included:
Spreading chaos across kingdoms to weaken institutions.
Manipulating political figures via corruption or soul-binding.
Creating artifacts or vessels to house splinters of Atrops's essence.
Assets
Hidden Sanctums: Known hideouts in Seartor, Dravonell, and beneath ruins in Su.
The Amulet of Atrops: Constructed as a locus for Atrops's manifestation; now lost or destroyed.
Soul-Looms: Alleged constructs rumored to be capable of manipulating memories and capturing fragments of one's essence; no verified examples have ever been recovered or proven to exist.
Tethered Operatives: Sleeper agents unknowingly bound through fragmented rites.
History
The origins of the Cult of Atrops remain obscure. Some scholars argue it began before the Carinal Dragons Accord, when scattered mystics began interpreting visions of a void-bound deity.
By the middle BFE era, it had taken root in isolated circles, often posting as healing or philosophical orders. It expanded its reach by infiltrating royal households, court alchemist, and rural faith centers.
Its modern peak occurred in the final years of the cult's existence, marked by the completion of the Amulet of Atrops and the orchestrated capture of Queen Ninym. No verifiable figure was identified as the singular leader during this phase, though uncovered records later suggested a coordinated and covert internal structure. While rumors of imperial entanglements have circulated for decades, no official records ever substantiated such connections.
The cult began to unravel after Queen Aindranla Athomath of Alagor—upon uncovering the truth behind the creation of the Amulet of Atrops and its connection to her mother, Queen Ninym—turned decisively against the organization. She ordered its complete and unrelenting destruction. This decree resulted in the rapid dismantling of the cult's infrastructure and the elimination of nearly 80% of its known adherents. What remained collapsed under its own disarray; leadership among the High Circle vanished, sanctums were deserted, and key ritual sites across Alagor were sealed or burned.
Disbandment
Officially declared destroyed in -3 BFE following hte discovery of a massacre within the cult's final stronghold. This event brought an end to a two decade hunt for the elusive figure known as Isaac Marlow. While the perpetrators remain unknown and the incident was never formally attributed to any individual or group, it marked the cult's official dissolution. No public decree or record detailed the event at the time, and its contents were quietly archived by internal defense ministries of Alagor.
Survivor rumors persits, though none have been substantiated.
DISBANDED/DISSOLVED
All Ends Return to Atrops
Unkown - -3 BFE
Type
Secret, Occult
Demonym
Cultists of Atrops
Gazetteer
Whisperspine Ruins (Su): Last known site of a major ritual attempt. Currently warded and sealed.
The Hollow Chapel (Dravonell): Abandoned temple beneath a collapsed village, believed to have once served as a center for obscure rites tied to memory isolation and will erasure.
Ash-Deep Sanctum (Seartor): Ritual archive built into a root-network; remnants discovered 3 BFE.
