Glorantha: Cult of Bagog 
Cult of Bagog
originally published in Cults of Terror and Lords of Terror

This document is Copyright © 1998 Issaries, Inc. It may be freely linked to, and 
one copy may be printed for personal use, but any other reproduction by 
photographic, electronic, or other methods of retrieval, is prohibited.
Table of Contents
  Mythos and History 
  Other Notes 
Mythos and History
Bagog was one of many creatures led by the Devil into the universe. Her stinging 
tail was a fearsome weapon, and many races and deities fell to her. At first she 
was content to enjoy the carnage of the Chaos Age, fighting and eating all who 
opposed her, but soon other urges shook her. She began to lay eggs which hatched 
into smaller versions of herself. Her progeny varied with her provender, and so 
there were scorpion men, scorpion horses, scorpion dragonewts, and many other 
types. Some were unable to live, while others flourished in the Darkness.
The scorpion races ate as Bagog had, and their children gained knowledge and 
power from their foes. Soon they formed a rough social order, centered about the 
might of Bagog and her daughters, the first Scorpion Queens. The Dorasta cult of 
the land of Dorastor has a story of how the land goddess's son Tobros was stung 
by Bagog at the Seven Hills, and was laid to rest beneath the mountains which 
bear his name until a cure could be found for Bagog's deadly venom.
The tribes have survived since the Darkness because they live in places that 
other races dread, impassable mountains and unlivable deserts. They occasionally 
surge and spread over nearby lands, or are exploited by broos or other beings 
for their own purposes. Among themselves, and among chaos creatures friendly to 
them, the scorpion races are known as Djurulgz, which can be translated as "the 
People." They have sometimes been hired as mercenaries by humans willing to 
overlook their chaotic nature in return for their military service.
Images and pictures are rarely used by Bagog's crude worshipers, since she is 
incarnate in the Queen of each tribe. In prehistoric troll and Orlanthi 
manuscripts she is drawn as a gigantic wrinkled scorpion woman. An ancient 
Pelorian mosaic shows the war god Shargash presenting a captured scorpion-thing 
to Murharzarm (Yelm Imperator), and this may also be a representation of Bagog.
The cult assures its members eternal life in Bagog. The children of Bagog feast 
upon their dead, assuring the preservation of all knowledge within the tribe.
Bagog is associated with the Runes of Chaos, Beast, and Man. There are minor 
associations with Darkness, although the mythic context of this relationship is 
unknown to humans.
Other Notes
Scorpion Men and Broos
The People and the broos have common grounds for alliance. The broos' superior 
intelligence and variety of useful magic make them natural leaders for the 
People in battle. In turn, the People provide a type of cavalry to the broos, 
their mobility and stinging tails greatly aiding the goatkin in battle.
Melding of the two species occurs whenever a broo undergoes the Ritual of 
Rebirth, or when a scorpion man accepts chaotic features and transforms into a 
broo. When the latter happens, only the upper torso (the non-scorpion body) is 
transformed. Such hybrids are not allowed to challenge the Scorpion Queen to 
take her place, but a Queen who transforms into a broo is not forced to step 
down. Her hybrid nature is not passed on to any children which she may lay.


See also:
Introduction to Glorantha: Chaos in Glorantha


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