Very little is known about the odd followers of the god known as Fervus. They seem to worship all things natural but they also revel in discord and chaos. It is difficult to engage them in intelligent discourse which explains the difficulty in understanding their ways.

What we do know is that they require a temple, as do all followers of the various gods. This temple will provide the Sovereign with healing powers and other spells as it is upgraded. Beginning Cultists are not very skilled in combat and have been known to occasionally steal from local businesses. As they become more powerful they gain various spells that make up for their odd behavior. It is said that the most powerful of Cultists can tame the most ferocious of beasts!

For more insight into the ways of the Cultists of Fervus you can read this eyewitness account of one of their rituals.

 

The Cultist's Tale

The following is exerpted from Lord Vincent Aquella's massive seventy volume series entitled: "The Wonders of Ardania." It is used with his permission. The careful reader will note, however, that this is not intended as a manual for worship, and should not be used as such.

It was on the third month of the New Year that I stumbled upon a mysterious cult-ceremony of the disciples of Fervus. I had been travelling for many months and was to begin my research into the fascinating living plants of East Cheswick when I haphazardly stumbled into a "Festival of Fervus." At each new moon, as far as I can surmise, the disciples of Fervus flock to regional temples to engage in what can only be described as an orgy of dance and song.

Of course I had heard of the Madmen of Fervus. What schoolchild can honestly say they had not been frightened to bed with tales of their cannibalism? (As far as I can tell, they do not, in fact, eat newborn children. How this rumor started is anyone's guess.) Once in a great while, as I wandered through the woods, I would stumble upon a Cultist gathering wild flowers or mushrooms. In their painted dress and masks, they seem the very picture of the solitary, wild savage.

In the light of the new moon the cultists began their strange dance around a pile of animal bones and hides. As the blaze grew brighter they began to chant in unison. (Curiously, cultists of Fervus refer to their deity as both male and female.) The following is an incomplete transcription of the fire chant of the Festival of Fervus. (N.B. Where I am unsure of the verse, I have marked the stanza with a question mark.)

Fervus! He of the Tooth and Claw!
Fervus! She of the Tangled Vine!
Fervus! With your ragged fur, and moist nose (?)
Fervus! With gnarled root, and scaly bark
Fervus! With yellow eyes and prickly-prickly (?)
Fervus! Mossy-mossy, wet and black
Fervus! Firy-wiry-willy-nilly (?)
Fervus! I call to you on rock and hilly!

I am unsure of the rest, for it seemed to me that the chant deteriorated into random, nonsensical shouting. As the night wore on, the ring was joined by all manner of beast. Though I would have been a tasty morsel on most evenings, these beasts seemed focused on joining the chorus. Soon the night air was filled with the cries of dozens of animals. As I looked about the fire it became increasingly difficult to differentiate between man and animal.

Drunk with fatigue, I succumbed to sleep somewhere near dawn. When I awoke in the midday sun, all signs of the previous night's festivities had vanished. The old temple looked abandoned and surrounded by an impenetrable thicket of brambles. As I wandered back to my cabin, I had to ask…had I imagined the whole thing?