Society of St Hydra

"An occult society dedicated to the study of the five Histories, and their thousand demi-real branches."

- Card text

 is the -aligned cult, dedicated to Lore itself, and the multiform powers of the Mansus. Its founders can promote followers of any aspect to its fifth rank (Disciple) at maximum, but may use any aspect other than to power the promotion.

Strategy
The  is a jack-of-all-trades cult with mastery of none. lore is very common, since you can acquire it through the Dream verb as well as from books. However, the lore itself has essentially no power beyond location discoveries, as it cannot be used for follower promotions or rites except for the summoning ritual of The Baldomerian, which requires only 2 aspect. The  is no better situated to gain or make use of the lore, rather, its strength lies elsewhere. The  is slightly better suited to pursuing a Power victory.

With no -aligned followers, The  has no distinct cult business.

Other Strengths
With the ability to promote followers using any aspect of sufficient strength, The  excels at rapidly populating the cult with Disciple-level followers, arming them against any future challenge. The  is therefore the fastest cult out of the early game.

Quick access means that founders should use their extra time to be better prepared. Collecting two Disciples of every aspect is highly recommended, as this arrangement can usually allow the founder to address any problem on-demand.

Without Exalted-level followers, cult business is less likely to succeed than it might be in a more focused society, and explorations cannot be as reliant upon a single follower to bypass obstacles. With dedication, multiple Disciples can easily shore up this latter limitation.

Because the Society of St Hydra can promote using any lore it can recruit Troublemakers with any tool, giving it far more options. This is especially worthwhile for recruiting Hunters, who have stats above and beyond standard Cultists.

Victory
The  is slightly better suited to pursuing a Power victory. Prisoners and corpses (for other victories) are more difficult to acquire than funds (Power victory), and the Notoriety produced is more difficult to eliminate. Also, when pursuing a Major Power Victory, The  does not need to sacrifice followers to satisfy Mrs E..