Unworthy of Ilsensine

The Unworthy of Ilsensine was a cult dedicated to the worship of Ilsensine in the late 14 century DR, from the underdark beneath the Giant's Run mountains on the Dragon Coast. It was is led by a manipulative Illithid cleric named Qooql.

History
Qooql was a pilgrim who went to the Illithid city of Oryndoll in 1370 DR where Ilsensine had appeared twice before. For reasons known only to itself, the Elder Brain of the city turned Qooql away at the gates. Qooql thought he was being tested so waited just outside of the city before trying to enter again. This time he was forced away by a group of thralls.

Qooql believed he was being rejected by a sect of renegade priests and decided to travel to the surface instead, whereupon he met a band of stone giants from Cairnheim. He charmed the leader of the group and asked to be brought before the tribe's chieftain, whom he thought he could manipulate. He didn't reckon on the chieftain to be the Dodkong himself, who ordered Qooql's destruction for charming one of his best hunters. Qooql convinced his charmed giant that the Dodkong had gone insane and meant to kill them both. The giant aided in the pair's escape.

Weeks later they were ambushed by grimlocks. Qooql defeated them all with a single mind blast. He ate the brain of one and charmed the rest, following them to their lair. Using force of personality, the fact that the group that ambushed him, were relatively unscathed and the favorable way which he treated them to his advantage, he soon managed to make the entire grimlock tribe into his servants.

Next, he came upon the Ironhand clan of dwarves. Qooql attempted to charm them as well and, at first they resisted but he soon wore their wills down, convincing them that he was a good renegade, trying to escape from his oppressively evil race. The sheer number of charm spells he used on the dwarves eventually led to them honestly believing that he was good and that he was forming an army powerful enough to defeat the Dodkong, which was a goal that the dwarves shared. These dwarves became Qooql's servants just like the grimlocks did.

Activities
Qooql used his servants to expand the network of caves that they reside in, though he wouldn't go outside of the northern part of the mountain range as the Dodkong was still looking for him. Some of his dwarves died but the number of grimlocks under his command doubled.

Qooql had his eyes set on the city of Westgate. He sent dwarven spies to bribe people and search for information and contacts, looking for weaknesses in the city's political structure so he could eventually take it over. He also wanted to try a similar thing with Iriaebor. He was sending out more and more agents with every passing month, though he was loathe to send his dwarves into the Western Heartlands for fear of overexposure. Still, if he could have hired mercenaries or dominate people to investigate the area for him, he would've likely jumped at the chance.

By 1372 DR no one had yet applied to join the cult. Qooql was only looking for individual contacts not affiliated with the Night Masks but willing to commit immoral deeds. To this end he approached evil adventurers with reputations for committing these acts. He was looking for small tribes of grimlocks to add to his army, while also trying to control the breeding patterns of the grimlocks and dwarves with his psionic abilities to create more soldiers and agents for future use.