Cultist leaders decide to put "hurr durr evil" stuff aside for a time and establish themselves as regional mercantile power.
What do you think of it as a plot in a D&D campaign?
That's okay.
>>44320631
Quite insidious. Spread themselves throughout the region, earn trust and a position of power, and have a large network of contacts, transports, and suppliers. Provided they haven't already done a lot of public evil, it's a good way to get themselves prepared for their eventual plots.
They wouldn't have to give up the evil to become a mercantine power. In fact, evil is the standard alignment of mercantile powers, and in D&D being evil has practical benefits. For example, see the sacrifice rules in the Book of Vile Darkness.
Speaking of the Book of Vile Darkness, considering the bonuses, you could make a healthy business raising good-aligned clerics for virgin sacrifices. I could picture evil cultists behind a good religion with schools and orphanages that value altruism and chastity, just so they could generate more suitable sacrifices.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unification_Church
It's been done.
If any of you guys have eaten sushi in the United States you've likely helped finance these guys.
>>44320631
>>44320631
fffffucking cultists of the endless.
Stealing all my minor factions.
Forcing me to go to war with them.
If you can capture their creepy vibe, go with it.
>>44320631
It's doable. The Red Wizards of Thay were doing this in Forgotten Realms, 3rd edition, before the Spellplague.
>>44320631
>tfw the cultists are better than the usual little sect at hiding their evil doings.
>"looks like I'll have to get to work then... hehehe."
>start spreading rumors about the cultists evil doings
>start exposing them for what they are, letting the other merchants and the suppliers of the evil sect in on what they are doing
>then watch as these rumors spread
>watch as the evil cult loses their customers, their goods, their contacts and their suppliers
>watch as more and more of the local population starts whispering about how they found the local representative of the evil cult knee deep in blood and gore of goats and chicken
>smile as the peasants take up their pitchforks and torches, going to support the militia and the local guard as they raid the evil cult's headquarters
>find all the evidence I had my cospirator plant there before hand
>everything goes
>just
>as
>planned
Why can't there be more good-aligned masterminds working in the shadows?
>>44320631
Well if they're a true believer they... probably shouldn't be willing to give up on the "hurr durr evil"
And if they aren't a true believer... there's probably enough of them in their underlings that they'll probably get offed soon and we're all back to the old cult.
It'd be a good plot for a mercanary or espionage themed party. Another mercantile power, or even someone within the company seeking to seize control, could hire them out to sabotage the group. But as the party digs deeper they discover the dirty secret behind the group's founding.
It would depend on the other regional powers.
>>44320783
OP here.
This. So much this. If cult refrains from its practices, then, I guess it loses its powers and divine patronage.
>>44320840
That might be interesting though. If they lose the diety's favor then you just have an economic power desperate to keep its dirty secret as they have nothing to fall back on. They might even be forced to enact a ruse on two fronts, keeping up a facade of a legitimate business to the public while maintaining the illusion of a practicing cult to the true believers.
>>44320631
Why not both?
Go totally Orzhov Syndicate.
Trade in gold and souls, futures and pasts, mortgage your house and your husband, buy life insurance and death insurance, put your money in the bank or your soul, lifelong employee bonuses and eternal contacts.
