Were you imagining entire villages within the kingdom that had already been completely overtaken by cultists?
I was, yes. I was imagining sort of fringe villages that pop up along the border/the outskirts of the larger kingdom and largely keep to themselves, allowing villagers from other places, wanderers, and travelers to come to them first as I talked about yesterday. Like a venus flytrap, I guess??? Lmao. Essentially I was imagining an entire village that serves as sort of the central hub of the cult and they’re pretty self-contained, and villagers from the outside call for its exile and pillaging because they believe they’re a threat to the Kindred or that they’re misrepresenting Milord’s image. Conversely, the cult believes what you said— that getting to bear Vox’s child is the highest honor of all and that they just can’t believe there are people in the world who don’t want that.
In my mind, it's not nearly as physically widespread as its influence might have you believe. A sort of "vocal minority" situation where they're just so well-known and feared/admired/respected/hated (depending on who you ask) that their presence is a little overstated. In my mind, it's all confined to like, a single isolated village of about 200-500 people which is, of course, a really small number in comparison to an entire kingdom. I think because their existence is talked about so much, whether it's a warning from the clergy or a rumor from a wandering traveler, it makes it feel like there's more of them than there are, but their influence isn't to be understimated and they have been growing exponentially…
I had the thought that bright, vivid scarlet would be considered a sacred color
I agree with this 100%! Scarlet red is reserved for Vox and Vox alone, and in the context of my cult concept, not even the concubines dare wear scarlet red and opt for other shades instead like deep crimsons or purplish reds like a nice mauve. For pregnant kindreds, scarlet red /accessories/ are permitted— necklaces, belts, earrings, etc, but not fabrics.
Society and family structure
In my mind I picture the cult as overwhelmingly female like the larger Holy Kingdom— a ratio of legit like 10 women to every 1 man. I don’t imagine the overall population being any larger than like 200 people, but it continues to grow and grow of course. I like to think that the male population is growing as more and more travelers get indoctrinated into the cult like the male briskadet and the Kindred in luxnoc who posts about wanting to be Vox’s househusband, so I was imagining that men within the cult are picked first by the elders nominating candidates to breed new girls, but in the event of all the cult’s men being… occupied, outsiders are used and lured in to serve no purpose greater than breeding the cult’s girls. If he wants to convert after that, great. If not then, well, he won’t be leaving, so… All in all I would say it’s polygamous but pretty no-strings-attached, everyone in the cult is so devoted to Vox that they couldn’t really imagine actually marrying anyone else within the clan or getting with them for reasons beyond just mere necessity/breeding.
Cult children are raised communally by the entire village with the baby’s original mother at the center, of course. Other mothers can act like a wet nurse in the event of the actual mother being asleep, sick, etc. Considering the cult’s goal is to essentially repopulate the Holy Kingdom with more Kindred as they await for Vox’s return, children grow up in the cult and the cycle just continues. I’ve been brainstorming ideas for cultist children being able to travel and venture out for a little bit to see the world once they reach a certain age.
How does overpopulation not become an issue?
Well like I’ve mentioned before, I dont see the cult having any more than like, 200 people at present and thats 200 in general, not just 200 people of childbearing age. That includes children and men and also older adults who may not actually breed anymore, instead they work with archiving the cult’s history and texts, leading worship services, and other diplomacy and political work. As far as food goes, there’s farming within the cult and the guards I’ve talked about before take hunting trips. I’m working on building on agricultural and hunter/gatherer information. Also the babies won’t be eating solid food until 24-28 months (I’m going off of when third world nations stop breastfeeding because the western world weans babies too fucking soon. 6 months, really? Let that baby’s brain develop a little more.) so it’s not like they’re taking up too much space. Another factor to consider is just simply that not every baby uh, makes it. It’s not like every pregnancy comes to full-term nor does every child necessarily thrive after they’re born. Of course elders work to mitigate miscarriages, stillbirths, and fatal birth defects through prayer and other rituals but theres only so much you can do.
Luxuria also loses a good handful of cultists whenever attacks happen, since they are not protected by the Kingdom's soldiers, and they’re aware of this so security and stable construction are taken seriously. High walls and all that I’m not very well-versed in militia stuff though but I’d love to learn more.