Bleeding the Host

Disciples of Ghlaunder

Illustration by Luis Perez

Ghlaunder is a minor deity who came to Golarion due to his accidental release by the goddess Desna. The Mosquito – his sacred animal – quite accurately represents his areas of concern: parasites, infections, and stagnation. His followers are secretive but deadly and seek nothing but chaos and destruction on Golarion. Today we’ll look at three possible sect of The Gossamer King.

As always, let us imagine we are sitting at our theoretical gaming table. Our imaginary GM sets out the rules for the game we will play. In this game, we are to make a follower of Ghlaunder. The character does not need to be a divine caster, just a devotee of the Gossamer King. What character do you make?

For more information on Ghlaunder

Ghlaunder’s Pathfinder Wiki Page

Ghlaunder’s Archives of Nethys Page 

The Dreamer’s Maze

Ghlaunder and Desna have been enemies since the dreaming goddess released him from his cocoon on the Ethereal Plane. When The Gossamer King’s followers try to hide among the followers of other churches they often use the word “dreamer” in whatever moniker they use to speak of their deity. Ghlaunder’s hatred for Desna has grown so deep that one sect has taken it upon themselves to destroy the chosen of Desna on Golarion.

The Dreamer’s Maze is a group of self-loathing Varisians who seek to wipe their own people from the face of Golarion. They masquerade as worshipers of Desna and work from within the traveling bands of their populace to either kill or corrupt their own people. Their deity revels in their actions, hoping to one day help deliver the final blow to his hated enemy. The members of the sect are unaware that this means they too must perish.

The Swarm

The Mwangi Expanse has become almost a battleground between would-be colonizers and the native tribes. Ghlaunder’s worship was already strongest in the Expanse and the nearby Sodden Lands, but these interlopers have helped swell the numbers of worshipers of The Gossamer King. Since one of the things that has consistently slowed the expansion of the colonialists is their succumbing to unknown plagues, Ghlaunder’s followers have used this as a rallying cry for the defenseless.

The Swarm is a sect of the deity’s followers that come from many different tribes of the Mwangi jungle. Their individual peoples have all been killed off or enslaved by the hated Apsis Consortium, and The Swarm has given them both a new home and a means of revenge. The weapon of choice of The Swarm are poison-dipped spears which they wield as they sneak into strongholds of the Consortium to contaminate their water supply and unleash deadly vermin.

The Plague Tenders

This group of followers of the Gossamer King doesn’t just seek to spread disease, they look to invent new and more deadly plagues. Made up of alchemists, casters of all stripes, and a group of folk who refer to themselves as scientists, the Plague Tenders grow diseases in their labs. Each member tries to outdo the other and they rate their creations based on the time it takes to cure and the number of people killed by it.

After an incident early in the sect’s existence – where they were nearly found out – they have since ceased to only operate in the Shingles district of Korvosa, becoming nomads as it were. The sect travels from city to city in Avistan, mostly in the west. They bring their disease-tainted mosquitos and deposit them around stagnant pools in the poorer areas of major cities and take careful notes on its spread and death toll.

The strong may survive but parasites still survive off the strong; so too do the followers of the demigod of parasites and disease. Who is your disciple of Ghlaunder? Why have they chosen to dedicate themselves to The Gossamer King? Where does their devotion come from? Let me know in the comments.

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The opening illustration was created by a fine artist Luis Perez. You can find him on Twitter, Tumblr, and on Instagram at luisperezart.