The Lambs of Dalamud

The Lambs of Dalamud are a religious cult devoted to the lesser moon Dalamud.

About

Near the end of the Sixth Astral Era, following the Garlean Empire making contact with Dalamud, the satellite began to slowly descend towards the realm of Eorzea. For millennia, the people of Eorzea believed it to be a lesser moon, even worshiping it at times through history. Of those who worshiped the lesser moon however, none were as fervent as the Lambs of Dalamud. When the moon began approaching, this cult viewed it as a deity in some form or another, and its approach as a sign of their deities' return.

The inner workings of the cult are unknown, as any taken in by the Lambs of Dalamud do not often return. It is unclear if the Lambs were seeking to resurrect their god, or harbor goodwill from it when the moon touched down, or if the moon itself was the god. The prevailing belief is that by offering blood to the moon, Menphina would send her warbeasts to the land and purify it, then reach down to the Seventh Hell and resurrect its followers. Whatever their intentions, the Lambs of Dalamud slowly began appearing in every shadowy corner of Eorzea, and became known for kidnapping the unwary and sacrificing them in bloody rituals at Gwyr-Aen, a sacred site in Coerthas.

During the events of the Battle of Carteneau, the Lambs of Dalamud were continuing to make sacrifices until the satellite detonated in the sky and Bahamut was set free. Witnessing the destruction of the "moon", the Lambs of Dalamud became enraged and blamed the "heretics", anyone not within the cult, and swore revenge against them all.

Following the aftermath of the Seventh Umbral Calamity, the Lambs flooded into the Tam-Tara Deepcroft, using the buried there as bodies for Voidsent to inhabit. Fearing the repercussions of this, the Wood Wailers hired adventurers to head in and dispatch the Lambs. Many of these parties were met with demise, such as the party of Edda Pureheart. Eventually the ambitions were put to rest when the Warrior of Light entered the deepcroft and slayed the resurrected Galvanth, whose body was given over to a Soulflayer Voidsent and drove the Lambs out.

The Lambs of Dalamud also managed to break the barriers on the Amdapor Keep that was raised by the Elementals to prevent any from entering the ruins and obtaining knowledge of forbidden magicks. They used the Keep as their stronghold, and the knowledge within to attempt to bring back their god via magicks and blood rituals. Again, the Warrior of Light ended their plans by storming the ruins and slaying the Voidsent they had called upon. Since this the few remaining Lambs of Dalamud have gone into hiding, and there has been relatively little activity or movement from the cult.

Known Members

• 
  Lefquene the Mystic
• 
  Milburh

Origin

In the throes of the sixth, and feared-to-be-final sun, fear and uncertainty ever, who sought a different prize—blood—and were not above treachery reigned supreme. While most struggled to simply find the will to endure, and deceit to fulfill their desires. Tales abound of hapless adventurers who some endeavored to take advantage of the waxing confusion. The most found themselves unwitting participants in enterprises most foul, pawns to common beneficiaries of this chaos were bandits and brigands who lined the dark hands that moved them about the board. The Lambs of Dalamud their pockets to bursting with ill-gotten coin. There were others, however, were one such consociation.

Seeds Most Dark

There is much speculation as to the true origins of the Lambs. Most believe their inception recent—perhaps as an attempt to find answers for the pandemonium that slowly unfolded in the final twenty summers of the Sixth Astral Era. Others better versed in imperial sociopolitics claim the cult a strategic plant by the Garleans—more specifically the VIIth Legion and Nael van Darnus—to slowly foster chaos in Eorzea while the Empire regrouped following their defeat at Silvertear Falls. And then there are still some who point back further, citing the infamous “lost” 4th Astral Era—a time when vague recollections of the Allagans? technical marvel overlapped with a re-embracing of religion would have proven the perfect sod for a lunar cult to take root and thrive. History is rife with records of ancient peoples who looked to the moon for guidance, the vestiges of those beliefs ever apparent in modern religion, most notably in the portrayal of Menphina, the Lover. While the name “Lambs of Dalamud” does not appear in any scholarly work older than the Sharlayan exodus, it may not be unreasonable to assume that they have mayhap existed, in some capacity, for countless millennia. This theory is further substantiated by the name Dalamud itself, a word whose linguistic origin appears to have been derived from Bahamut—the selfsame primal recently revealed to have been captured and exiled to the heavens by Allagans some five thousand summers previous.

Lambs doctrine teaches that Dalamud—loyal hound to the moon, Menphina—would one day heed the summons of His Flock and return to the Land to wreak havoc on the unfaithful. Only those who had proven their loyalty in life would be spared and led to their rightful place amongst the stars. It was commonly believed that this loyalty was best demonstrated through self-sacrifice in the upholding of their belief, and that the Hound, knowing the scent of His true followers, would come to collect them in the Seven Hells for the journey heavensward.

Content in the anonymity of their worship, the Lambs of Dalamud remained decidedly hidden from the public eye—that is, until a rare meteor shower drew the cult from the shadows. It is about this time members began to break their silence, claiming allegiance with the brotherhood, and actively working to recruit new members. Still, their actions did not warrant immediate alarm. Local governments often chose to ignore the cult, thinking their time would pass, as was the case with most fringe sects of Twelve worship—a sect being how most often the Lambs were categorized. It was not until the lesser moon changed hue that the direction of the Lambs’ actions took a dramatic turn—a violent one—as is documented in an incident at Owl’s Nest.

Blood Price

It is around this time that a nameless adventurer (recollections of the individual are vague, with little agreement as to race or gender) arrives in idyllic Owl’s Nest, nestled in a secluded valley in the Coerthas eastern lowlands. There he (or perhaps she) is approached by one of the hamlets respected elders. The man claims his wife has been abducted by the Lambs of Dalamud and taken north to Gwyr-Aen to be sacrificed. Sensing the severity of the situation, the adventurer agrees to rescue the wife; however, upon arrival at the ancient stone circle, he finds no helpless captive, only crazed cultists who are all too ready for him. The adventurer emerges victorious from the ensuing battle, but there are no cries for mercy from the fallen cultists, only shouts of elation, for they have been made martyrs in the eyes of their Lord savior. The rite is complete. The adventurer has spilled the blood that will summon Dalamud back to the realm.

Not ten summers past were the climes of Coerthas much milder, and rare was it that snow befouled the region’s rolling meadows and lush valleys. It was in one of these secluded dells that a small community of shepherds and farmers founded old Owl’s Nest. Here lived the cultist Foxe until his sudden disappearance come the fall of Dalamud.

Whither the Flock

Despite numbering in what religious scholars estimate to be the thousands, the Lambs of Dalamud all but disappeared from the public eye immediately following the fall of the lesser moon. Scattered reports from across Eorzea suggest there may still be factions that continue the blood rites; however, their numbers are insignificant. Whither, then, did all of the Lambs go? It is quite possible that the beliefs of those cultists who survived the Calamity were dismantled by the revelation Dalamud was naught but an iron prison for the aetherial manifestation of a long-dead wyrm. Having lost faith, they simply abandoned the cult and returned to their old lives. Word from the Far East, though, may suggest otherwise. Adventurers and traders have brought back with them tales of intrigue—a swelling of the ranks of those scattered tribes who pledge spiritual allegiance to the Dusk Mother, Nhaama, and the abductions that have followed. Is it merely coincidence, or could this prove the beginnings of something sinister? Only time will tell.