Ideas for the Empty Vessel - Forgotten Gods Cult

Blades in the Dark
1

I need some help elaborating a ritual for The Empty Vessel Cult - First time Blades GM here.

The book mentions that Bazso Baz is a member of this cult and puts the cult’s needs before even the Lampblacks’ agenda sometimes. It also says that their ways are not unlike the Church of Ecstasy hollowings.

I am running for a brand new crew of Shadows; They chose the lampblacks as their +2 Status faction and the Red Sashes are at -2. (they stole a boat from Mylera Klev’s fleet when they chose the faction they pissed off aquiring the boat upgrade.)

Second score ever was to break into the Museum of Antiquities and steal an Iruvian sacred relic that Bazso wants because he is a cultist. He lied to the group, stating that his reasons are simply to deny access and agravate the red sashes by stealing some Iruvian religious / sacred object.

Last session ended with the group drinking fine Skovlander Whiskey at Bazso’s Office. (Not unlike the opening scene form the starting situation: War in Crow’s Foot.)

This is all I’ve got around to designing at the moment. I never elaborated much on what kind of use would the Iruvian Vase would have to Bazso or his cultist friends.

I also do not want to derail the campaing with this. I pretty much wish that they stay focused on the war at crow’s foot scenario at least for the first few sessions.

My basic idea here, not really having much experience with Lovecraftian style rituals such as these, would have Bazso kidnapping an iruvian Maiden for ritual sacrifice…hollowing her by pouring her blood and soul into “the Empty Vessel” - Because a virgin’s womb would also be an empty vessel of sorts maybe the god or an “angel” possesses the maiden…That could also work with Iruvian barren woman / infertile man as the “empty vessel”…As you can see my expertise with Cultists and cults is limited and I can see that this idea is very standard ritual sacrifice of the virgin…which I think can work, but will not necessarily astonish my Players.

My other silly idea is to say that their boat, which was established from the get go as an Iruvian “Vessel”…is part of the ritual…but I don’t want to deny my crew an asset they chose at character creation because of my crazy GM ideas.

This is the situation - What would my fellow GMs do if you were in my place?

Thanks in advance.

2

You could keep going in the direction you have been. Bazso could pay them to kidnap an important member of the Red Sashes as leverage. Only they’re weirdly young, and doesn’t seem to have a lot to do with the Red Sashes? And wasn’t Bazso stroking that vas while he gave you the job?..

Then they get to choose how moral they’ll be :smile:

3

I like that idea. Maybe a daughter of some Iruvian Diplomat / Leviathan Hunter Captain is the way to go.

4

Or, if you want to be really obvious about it, just a nobody.

Getting someone important is probably a more interesting score while grabbing a nobody from their home in Silkshore is a moral quandary :wink: