As the Solar Book moves on over to final production soon, I’ve been making the finishing touches on the Cults of Darkness before it goes to layout. Now interestingly this is the first new appearance of the Kyger Litor cult in well over 30 years. So if you are one of those grognards that think commenting on the frequency of Kyger Litor cult writeups is amusing – be aware those jokes make no sense for the majority of the RQ audience! You can hang out in the back with the people who can’t help but make ancient Monty Python references.
With that out of the way, the Darkness cults include Annilla, Aranea, Argan Argar, Black Sun, Gorakiki, Himile, Jajagappa, Kyger Litor, Mee Vorala, Moorgarki, Subere, Xentha, Xiola Umbar, Zong, and Zorak Zoran. If we felt like it we could have put Gorgorma and Ty Kora Tek there as well, but Gorgorma’s ties to Solar mythology and Ty Kora Tek’s to Earth made them better fits there.
Now many of these cults appeared in the long out of print Troll Gods – which ultimately was the source for what became the Cults series. I wanted to do the Cults of RuneQuest with write ups like those for Troll Gods, but with the best art I could possibly get – which for me meant pairing up with Loïc Muzy.
For a long time, we had more information on the culture of the trolls than we did about the Sartarites, Esrolians, or Lunars. So it was fun for me to revisit the trolls and their gods – which really was a return to the starting point. But with the information in the Guide, the Lightbringers, Earth Goddesses, the Lunar Way, and the Solar Religion, the Darkness cults make so much more sense and feel even richer. At least for me.
See also
What Darkness cults (other than Argar Argar) have human worshippers? Annilla has some, as does the Black Sun and Jajagappa. But for the most part, trolls are the main worshipers of the deities of Darkness.