Mother Cybele

The contradictions of the Cult of K’Leth are strong, and rarely more so than in the being known as Mother Cybele. As one of the oldest and most powerful Soul Shepherds, she has played a key role in the soul transferal of thousands of her fellow Knights Revenant, which has earned her renown as a guiding light among even the Cult’s upper echelons. To the lower acolytes and novices, she is nothing less than the matriarch of the sect: wise, benevolent, and powerful. Almost all Knights Revenant set themselves up as heroes to the lesser mortals they lure into the Cult’s service, all the better to acquire fresh bodies for their own usage in the soul transference. Most are merely leeches and corrupters. Aware of their own nature, most Knights Revenant assume the same of Mother Cybele, believing her matriarchal aura is a mere guise for authority. This is likely true, but it may also be possible that Cybele truly believes that she knows what is best for the Cult. Authority is certainly something that has always come easily to Cybele. Once a high priestess of Lumaya, she grew disillusioned with the Goddess of Light while working alongside her self-appointed representatives in the Sacred Order. She witnessed their hypocrisy, and when one force of crusaders sought to ‘cleanse’ – loot – one innocent village too many, Cybele took action. She preached resistance to the villagers, and aided them in rising against the arrogant knights. She herself killed the leader of the Sacred Order warriors with a blow from her staff-mace. From that day forth, she was known as the Red Priestess, a title she embraced by adopting a crimson mask that she now wears at all times. Cybele continued to preach against the Sacred Order, and while they tried unsuccessfully to have her eliminated, she also came to the attention of darker forces. Members of the Cult of K’Leth approached her, claiming to be defenders of the rights of the common people against the aggressive zealotry and indoctrination of the likes of the Sacred Order. Cybele was too wise to believe such claims immediately, but she saw the potential power the Cult had, and believed, with a hopeful naivety, that she could perhaps turn it toward doing the good it claimed to uphold. And so Cybele threw herself into the Cult’s activities, and quickly rose through the ranks. She was apprenticed to a Soul Shepherd, and was soon leading soul transference rites herself. The process was no certain thing, fraught with dangers and mishaps. Cybele, however, had a complete success rate with her ceremonies, treating each of the many soul gems in her care with a tenderness befitting that of a loving midwife. She became the most sought-after Soul Shepherd in the Cult. Truly, as she 'birthed' souls into their new flesh, the Red Priestess became their ‘mother.’ As decades passed her reputation became vital to her own identity, as she came to prize her standing within the Cult above her old intentions to turn the Knights Revenant towards righteousness. She had discovered her true calling, that of a shepherd of immortality. Such a position ensures that Cybele has prime access to the strongest and freshest bodies for her own soul, ahead of even some of the highest ranking among Cult. Those jealous of her power whisper that she abuses this, and that her crimson mask is a convenient disguise for how regularly she changes bodies. Some even claim that she is addicted to the transference and that she takes on new flesh on an almost weekly basis. This is of great concern to other Knights Revenant, who might claim that bodies that should belong to them are being misappropriated, but such is Cybele’s standing that none have publicly challenged her - yet. Some argue that such claims are unfounded. Certainly, Mother Cybele has made great sacrifices for the Cult, sinking time and energy into ensuring the safe transference of other Knights Revenant, as well as taking to the battlefield when the Cult’s assets come under serious threat. None can question her dedication, nor the strength and vigor of her addresses when she preaches to the Cult’s acolytes, putting her old high priestess oratory skills to good use. Any intentions she might once have harbored, of using her membership of the Cult as a force for good, seem to have long been subsumed by her continued efforts to remain a master of soul transference and see the souls of those in her care into their new bodies. What is certain is that only the unwise and the short-sighted within the Cult speak openly against Mother Cybele. For even if she is not the matriarchal figure she shows herself as, she is the only certain means for many Knights Revenant to continue their jealously guarded immortality.