Gark the Calm

In the Godtime Gark was a servant of the Celestial Court, a minor Harmony deity. He befriended Rashoran and learnt not to fear the Darkness when Yelm was murdered. He met the darkness spirit that had guarded death and witnessed its transformation into Vivamort, learning much.

After Wakboth was twice driven back from the spike, Gark persuaded many of the servants of the Celestial Court and not a few of its defenders that he could take away their fear and protect them from death. He used some of what he learnt from Rashoran and Vivamort and turned them into zombies, without fear and protected from Death.

Kargan Tor, who led the defence of the Celestial Court, came seeking his missing defenders and saw what Gark had done. Vowing vengeance he pursued Gark through the labyrinth of the Spike to one of the many gates. Gark opened the gate and was confronted by the devil himself. Wakboth saw what Gark had done and approved, laughing as he tore Kargan Tor's soul apart, then sent Gark out into the world to continue his work amongst the frightened peoples of the world.

Since then Gark and his priests have travelled across the world promising eternal peace and turning their victims into zombies.

Once Gark tried to recruit from a Castle of Lead but was driven off by Zorak Zoran who stole some of his power.

Gark cultists wander regularly from place to place collecting the flotsam and jetsam of the human (and other) race. Many times they call Gark by another name. A shrine to Gark is normally some portable symbol.

Entry requirements

Willingness to create and tend zombies. A candidate must convince the priest that they have abilities that would be useful and that they do not need Peace granting.

Physical abilities

Mental abilities

Affinities

Zombies (Create Zombie, Command Zombie, Repair Flesh [D+20 if living flesh], Become Zombie When Killed).

Secret

Worshippers

Gark attracts two sorts of worshippers, misguided people who wish to bring peace to the world or those who see an advantage to having a zombie entourage. Priests and devotees are normally the former.

Other Side

Disadvantages

The practices of the cult are considered illegal, if not abhorrent, by all societies.

Relationships to other cults

Gark cultists have been known to cooperate with Vivamort cultists. The vampires have the choice of each batch of new recruits. The victims so selected are returned to Gark afterwards and are first to become zombies.

Notes

Gark's Gifts are a rarely encountered live crystal. They have a Might of 15, sometimes higher. Once attuned they provide action points equal to their might for use in magical contests. See Blood of the Gods.

They have a hidden cost: once each week (on Wildday, at midnight) they attempt a Might vs Will or magical ability contest. The results are as follows:

Result	Action
Complete victory	The attuned character is now a zombie, and the crystal is deattuned.
Major victory	The crystal gains a cumlulative bonus of +10 for the next contest.
Minor victory	The crystal gains a cumulative bonus of +5 for the next contest.
Marginal victory	The crystal gains a cumulative bonus of +1 for the next contest, attuned character has bad dreams.
Tie	Attuned character has bad dreams.
Marginal defeat	The crystal gains a cumulative penalty of -1 for the next contest, attuned character has bad dreams featuring the crystal.
Minor defeat	The crystal gains a cumulative penalty of -5 for the next contest, attuned character has bad dreams featuring the crystal.
Major defeat	The crystal gains a cumulative penalty of -10 for the next contest, attuned character knows the crystal is attacking.
Complete defeat	The crystal is deattuned and cannot be reattuned by that character ever again.

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