On the cover of this book, written in blood, is the symbol of a coil. On the first page is an oath:
“I pledge my body, soul, and purpose to the furtherance of chaos. We shall act as one. We shall breathe as one. We shall think as one. And in our crimson coils we shall choke out the death of those who would us bring death. We shall choke out the order which stifles life. We shall choke out the civilization which crushes liberty.”
The rest of the book teaches the ways of the Brotherhood of the Crimson Coil. The cult acts like a virus – their faces hidden; their identities submerged into the Coil itself. The members of the cult do not mix in normal society, preferring to remain cloistered in remote temples or hidden demesnes. The only time the cultists make an appearance is to carry out a Purging. During a Purging the cultists appear en masse to carry out some act of terrible destruction.
The cult chooses a target, seemingly at random, and then show up to burn down a building; set fire to a field; slaughter a family; or deface a monument. They are neither subtle nor gentle. They show neither mercy nor fear. Usually, their raids come so suddenly and unexpectedly that they meet little resistance. They usually appear in numbers so great, they simply cannot be stopped—a hundred cultists to burn down a single house, a dozen to murder a merchant walking down the street. They disappear quickly, often using spells to cover their escape.
DESIGN NOTES
The Crimson Coil is actually a defunct chaos cult: They were destroyed many years ago by one of the Orders of Knighthood in Ptolus. So whereas the other chaos cult lorebooks are describing the current state of affairs, this one is delving into the history of the chaos cults: Where did they come from? What is their legacy?
There are, I suppose, many such cults that could be described. Unless they become relevant for the narrative, however, it generally only takes one or two such details the evoke the possibilities of this vast abyss.
