Kenshi.zoneWorld Encyclopedia

The PreacherReport

English:The Preacher · Characters

Leader of the Preacher Cult, a Hive Prince carrying a Meitou Moon Cleaver; he has not one patrol to his name, yet the Holy Nation, the United Cities and the Shek Kingdom all have a bounty on him at once.

The Preacher leads the Preacher Cult, a Hive Prince living in the Cult Village on the Stormgap Coast with nobody around him but Moon Guardians and farmers.

Purify them! Return their blood to the sands!

A wanted man with no army

The Preacher Cult is astonishingly small: one village, three job roles, one creed. They hold no territory, field no army, and send out no patrols at all.

And yet the Preacher himself appears on the wanted lists of all three great powers — the United Cities, the Holy Nation and the Shek Kingdom — which is close to unique treatment in this game. The reason is written on the poster:

WANTED: The Preacher Race: Hiver Gender: N/A Eyewitness' description: "Hell, like a stickman! What more do you want me to say?" Leader of a growing 'nature' cult thought to be responsible for the disappearance of hundreds of travellers in the desert region. Must be returned to the police alive for interrogation. REWARD: 15,000 Cats

Within their doctrine, a passing traveller is not a threat but an agricultural input — the faithful believe a rain of blood brings the fields a good harvest. See Preacher Cult for details.

TipNo patrols, a 15,000-Cat bounty, and a Meitou weapon worth 44,069 Cats on his person — which makes him one of the best-value bounty targets in the game. You do not have to handle reinforcements on the road; you only have to fight your way into that one village.

A blade he cannot swing

The Preacher carries a Meitou Moon Cleaver worth 44,069 Cats, forged by the legendary smith Cross, and it is the only one in the game.

But there is a gap here worth noting:

Strength far below the requirement means a heavy drop in attack speed. He is holding one of the finest cleavers in the game and swinging it extremely slowly — which is the most practical opening you have when fighting him.

ItemValue
Strength32.8 – 39.2
Toughness49.2 – 58.8
Dexterity49.2 – 58.8
The six weapon skills41 – 49
Melee Attack / Defence41 – 49
Dodge / Martial Arts0.5 – 8.5

His armour is only [Shoddy] grade (5% chance of [Standard]), with a Karuta Zukin or Kusari Zukin on his head. The whole cult carries no medical supplies at all, so after a fight the fallen cultists tend to be slowly crippled or simply die.

Gender is not fixed

This character is always a Hiver, but has a 40% chance of being female. That is quite rare among named characters — most unique characters have gender hard-coded. It is also why the gender field on the wanted poster is left blank.

You can join them by saving him

The Preacher Cult's relations mechanics carry an unusual piece of design: the penalty for hurting him is far heavier than the penalty for carrying him off.

ActionRelations change
Healing the Preacher in front of at least one Moon Guardian or farmerup to +95
Attacking the Preacher−200
Capturing or killing the Preacheronly −25
Throwing him into a Peeler Machineonly −25 (dying in the machine adds no further penalty)

The numbers read strangely, but they are consistent: for this cult, picking the fallen Preacher up in front of the faithful is the act with the most weight behind it, more than anything you do to him afterwards. For players who want to join the Preacher Cult, that is the route in.

NoteSince "capture or kill" costs only 25 points, knocking him down, healing him in front of the faithful, banking the relations and only then considering the bounty is in theory a workable order of operations. The actual result depends on what your relations stand at when you start.

See also

Uses

Karuta Zukin, Kusari Zukin