Editing LeviathanTempest:RavenDumpingGround (section)

== Strains ==

The strains have many different aspects, so I was trying to think of the primary explanation. Here's what I came up with "What kind of god are you?", this is easiest explained by describing the kind of religion that would worship you. 

Think of these as exadurations; the strain taken to it's logical conclusion. Most Leviathans will see the below as what they will become if they don't try and become something better. Not all Tanninim are moral extremists, but they do have a pathological need for stability that, if they aren't careful, could easily manifest as a huge list of rules they force everyone around them to follow. You eat pork, you get eaten. 

The cults though, the Beloved normally do end up like the cults below, forced into that shape by The Wake. The mismatch between the religion the cultists think they're in and the religion the Leviathan wants is just another of the Tribe's curses. 


A Bahamatuan's cult tends to look kinda like the movementarians from the Simpsons. Don't think, don't do anything, just conform and be provided for. From the Strain of Sloth's perspective they're constantly surrounded with whiny needy babies. On the plus side, they're relatively unlikely to be creating problems compared to other strains. 

Meanwhile a Dagonite's cult probably looks like the actual Jonestown. Lots of backstabbing, favouritism and vicious politics all centring around the Leviathan. Who's possibly too Proud of all the flattery to see how his favourites are harming his interests; through backstabbing politics if not abusing their authority over lesser cultists. 

The Lahamin probably don't resemble any real religion, but a very common fictional one. They are the secretive chessmaster gods who see all and have planned everything. Their followers are the sinister cult who's members are everywhere, hidden among rich and poor and plotting nefarious deeds. The first Robert Downey, Jr Sherlock Homes film has an example. 

The Nu's cults could be said to resemble an evil modern Christianity, after everyone started asking “hang on, how do we know there even is a god?” God is a metaphor, key theological events like the resurrection are a metaphor. This leads to a lot of “interpretation” of what the Nu really means; like most strains the Nu often have to become a tyrant just to make it clear that no, it wasn't an elaborate metaphor that really means “sacrifice virgins to me”. On the other hand a Nu trying to find it's theological and practical place in the world often has a good resource, make vague complaints about what you feel unsure about and pick from the interpretations provided by your philosophical cult. 

Oceaneads are religion as a mask for self promotion. An Oceaneads cultist are the sort of people who use their faith to assert moral or social superiority to others (using faith to assert that others are morally evil is more a Tanninim thing). An Oceanead is both an exemplar of this behaviour, their cult is a choir of flattery, and a living symbol of social status. An objective measure of who the religion put on top of the social pigpile this week: Who did the goddess smile at the most? 

The Tanninim are the easiest to explain. They are the bronze age gods with ten plagues and an itchy trigger finger. A Tanninim's cult is often led by the kind of fundamentalists who'd call HIV god's righteous punishment against homosexuality, and a Tanninim is often the kind of god who would create HIV as a punishment. This is to say, they have that kind of moral extremism, not that they nessacarally look like right wing Americans. It is perfectly plausible to find a Tanninim Cult which accepts any kind of sexuality, but god help you if you forgot to bathe in sacred oils this morning. 

The Thalassans are the kind of god you might see behind televangelists. The god who you worship for material reasons; more classically the Thalassans are probably the most common kind of religion. If you live one storm away from a bad harvest, and one bad harvest away from starvation, you bet you would pray for good whether. In short, they're the gods you worship for non-religious reasons. This means that a Thalassan has to provide to keep it's cult in any semblence of order; on the plus side they can keep their cult in order with material goods as easily as threats.

=== Lahmasu Strains ===

Leviathan started as a simple idea: "White Wolf has done all the classic monsters, except the creature from the Black Lagoon". That idea didn't last long, and when I started writing it was my intent to bring the Black Lagoon back. The Lahmasu seemed like the natural place. Each are based on a different stereotypy ranging from sea monsters, to horror films: 

Gugal - Are quite simply Lovecraft's deep ones. Their unique tendency to actually have genetically stable populations makes it possible for them to actually have a functional and lasting undersea city. (Leviathan controlled or fearcly independent) 

Abuu - Born cultists who see their mutations as proof of divine favour and their natural role as priests.  

Mahhu - A horror classic, the creepy person who knows stuff. The swamp witch or delpadated gas station owner for example. 

Heqen - The knowledge to the Mahhu's wisdom. Strange tribes in touch with nature, the supernatural and the astral realm. 

Pelopsids - Pelopsids are mermaids (tails are optional, but not rare). Ranging from pretty love interests to vicious predators who feed on humans. They can often use siren songs too. 

Gibborim - The creature from the black lagoon itself. Vicious claws, vicious instincts, and often a predator's cunning. 

Hemitheos - The Tribe are gods (well technically 1/3 gods), so their children are demigods (well 1/6 gods). Hemitheos take this literally, they're a demigod in the greek sense, like Hercules.