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Wakboth's first act in the world was to slay his father, so that none could be born to rival him. He then forced Thed and the broos to aid him as he destroyed the world. Thed's willing submission to rape provided him with other, more powerful, brothers and sisters, and these monsters served him as lieutenants or champions during the Darkness. Among these horrors were Cwim, Tien the Headhunter, and the Black Goat.
Thed fought in the wars of chaos, but fell to Kyger Litor after Ragnaglar was slain and Malia had left the conspiracy. Wakboth the Devil was finally slain by Urox and cast to Hell, where the Spider Woman devoured him, and Thed dispersed to the dark corners of the Spirit Plane, relatively powerless, and without allies except for her remaining broo children.
The broos still honor and revere Thed. She may be called upon by other beings for aid in raid and battle, and she grants her favor for the perfunctory worship she receives in return.
Though protected in her existence by the Great Compromise, Thed was on the losing side, and she occupies a distinctly minor place in the universe. Her role as Mother of the Broos enables her to maintain but not expand her influence. This connection is also her greatest weakness, as broo hunts are popular activities (especially among trolls and humans), and many believe that the broo population is in decline.
Thed is usually pictured by her children as an bestial female broo, often with snakes for breasts or a gaping fanged mouth where her vagina should be. The Praxians and Orlanthi picture Thed as a gigantic, slim figure with a long, tufted tail and two deformed, clawed arms. Her head has four curved horns, ropy hair, and five antennae or tentacles arrayed about her mouth. Her eyes or vagina are usually ritually disfigured as a ward against her power.
Thed's worshipers believe that they become daemons of chaos after they die, spending their time hunting the souls of those unprotected by their own deities. These demons know that they will be scouts for the forces of chaos in the Final Battle. The Orlanthi know that there is a special place in the Afterlife reserved for the foul spirits of broos and other horrors, where they are trapped for eternity.
Thed is associated with Spirit and Chaos. There are minor associations with Fertility as well.
At the controller's command, the spirit can enter its master's body in a sort of benevolent covert possession, giving the master use of its Chaotic Feature while still allowing him control over his own actions. The shaman must give the spirit one magic point when it leaves his body. These spirits can also engage in normal spirit combat and cast spells (if they know any), and can possess an individual. Such possession does not taint the individual with chaos, although he or she will detect as chaotic for the duration of the possession.
Thed is said to be a jealous goddess, who wants only males as worshipers, but the truth goes much deeper. Thed was conquered by a brutal storm god during the Gods War, and in her pain and anger she wished to avenge herself upon the entire world. To this end she allowed herself to be used by Ragnaglar, and so brought Wakboth the Devil into the world. She allowed herself to be abused by her child as well, and chaos filled the cosmos. But Thed still seeks revenge, and broo are her tools for this vengeance.
A broo can mate with any organism of any race or sex and produce offspring, a larval broo which eats its way out of the abdomen of its host. Broo thus enforce Thed's will upon the rest of the world in vengeance for the crime inflicted upon her. This inflicting of pain is her greatest joy, and it is for this reason that she is rightly known as the Goddess of Rape. In this taking of vengeance, female broo are useless to Thed, having no more power to resist than she did. For this reason she spurns them. The hermaphrodites she accepts as followers, but she does not favor them as she does her wholly male children, since they can also be victimized.
Most female broo seek power through the Malia cult, since she is a much friendlier goddess (to them), and allows many the chance for their own revenge. Since any mating of a female broo (with any species) also results in broo offspring, female broo avoid sexual liaisons of any kind: any mating by a female broo is sure to prove deadly to the mother, regardless of the race of the father.
Some male broos prefer female broos as mates, especially the more powerful shamans and priests. Some tribes have legends of the rebirth of the Devil from such a mating, while others maintain that the children of such unions are stronger, more cunning, or more powerful than beast-born broo. Regardless of the rationale behind such matings, the deadliness of any such union ensures that female broo avoid this fate whenever possible.
Other Notes
The Duel of Thed
If two members of Thed's cult have irreconcilable differences, the leader of the gang chooses an official date for the duel at least a week in advance. Both parties are expected to bushwhack each other before then, and the date represents the leader's judgment of when the dispute must be settled. Hiring assassins, poisoning food, impersonating friends, and any and every other imaginable tactic are legal in the duel. Contests for the leadership of a gang are always conducted in this matter.Gifts to Thed
Members of this cult must often bring a Gift to Thed. The gift must have been taken from others, and the taking must have caused the donor pain. Poisoning a well is an example of a good gift. This act would endanger an entire community, which would please Thed very much. Thed is also pleased with ears, sacred items of other cults, cherished personal treasures, children, the severed hands of vanquished chaos fighters, etc.The Spirits of Thed
These peculiar spirits can be contacted by Thed's shamans, and are often found controlled by them. Each possesses a Chaotic Feature. They are incorporeal, but have a slight link to the physical world, and can be seen as a shadowy aura if one looks closely.Female Broos
Broo are essentially magical in nature, like all forms of life, and have features peculiar to them. The most obvious feature is that most appear male; previous studies have indicated that only 10 to 15% are female, with a fairly common mutation of hermaphroditism (5%).
See also:
Chaos in Glorantha
What Do You Want? Shut Up!
What the Broo Shaman Says
Secrets of the Chaos Gods