{{Lore}}
A cult priest is a junior senior member of the [[Followers of Asica]], an apocalypse cult. Members of the cult worship [[Asica]], a goddess of destruction. They study the cult's holy book (the ''Book of Asica''), spreading a message of doom and apocalypse. However, they are most famous for abducting travelers and adventurers in the Uncivilized Area, using them to perform various brutal rites described in the ''Book'' in the hopes of pleasing Asica or requesting her favors. These rites include blood rituals, burning gunpowder (to form a ''ring of fire'', a holy symbol), abductions, forced conversions, as well as torture, mutilation, and sacrifices. Cult priests are the senior members of the cult, and since the death of the founder, [[Alastor Revanus]] in [[History of the Mazes|E7-570]], the organizations have not had an official, overarching leader. Because Revanus died before he could designate a successor, there was a brief period of conflict and infighting over the subject of succession. Although the subject is still difficult, the Followers have since organized into loose congregations by geographic area, only associating voluntarily with each other.
Typically, a cult priest is someone who has extensively studied the ''Book of Asica'', has experience with the rituals described in the book, and has a certain amount of charisma and leadership, as they must be able to lead a ''chapter''; a group of [[cultist|cultists]]. A chapter of Followers (also called an Asican chapter) may have as few as 10 members and as many as 200 members, depending on the location and the power and influence of the leading priest.