i thought it might be interesting if my interpretation of the lamb had a cult mainly made of animals that have been used as sacrifice throughout history.
My thinking behind this is that lamb wants to reminded of their family and thus has decided to protect those that have been at higher risk of being sacrificed in the name of the old faith.
On the other hand my interpretation of the goat is more logical about who joins their cult though they still will take in people who need protection they are especially fond of horses I think
This list of animals comes the Wikipedia page for animal sacrifice, the Wikipedia page for rabbit test, an exhibit from the Smithsonian of a mummified cat, an article on the roots of easter, and articles about the history of the rabbit/hare in the moon
I ignored the many mentions of sheep and goats on the Wikipedia page.
Interestingly the most common ones mentioned after the sheep and goat are cows, pigs and birds
Below the cut is a list of animals a little about the history of them being sacrificed and wether or not we already have that follower form in cult of the lamb. I won't get very graphic with the history part though I will mention if they were specifically mummified. I will mainly be mentioning in what culture and religions they were used as sacrifice, what was thought to be gotten from the sacrifice and the deity the sacrifice was made to
Also domestic animals that people consider pets are in this list you have been warned
gazelle - not in cult of the lamb - only mentioned in the prehistory section of the wiki page and is found in ancient egypt specifically buried at the foot of a grave but it seems to have been rare
felines specifically domestic cats with fur - in cult of the lamb (also has a sphinx, lion, tiger) - while killing cats was considered a crime in ancient egypt there were many exceptions made as some specifically raised cats for sacrifice or people wished to be buried with their pets. Cats were mummified and given elaborate coffins
hippo - in cult of the lamb - once again in ancient egypt and only mentioned once in the wiki page most likely was in honor of powerful citizens or buried with an owner
baboon - not in cult of the lamb the closest we have is a monkey or gorilla - same thing as the hippo just with a baboon
cattle (includes cow, ox, bull, and buffalo) - in cult of the lamb as cow and bison though we don't have a bull, ox, buffalo though the bison follower is based on the American buffalo/bison maybe we could use a water buffalo - this one is mentioned to many times for me to go into much detail but here's how many times it's mentioned outside of the references on the wiki page Cattle 6 times, Cow 9 times, Bull 8 times, Buffalo 6 times, Ox 4 times, and heifer has 1
pig - in cult of the lamb - also to commonly used for me to go into detail though apparently Scythians would never sacrifice them and hated having swine on their land. Now for how often pig and swine are mentioned outside of the references and the Scythians section swine 2 times, pig 17 times
fowl includes geese, duck, pheasant and chicken but it's usually just listed as fowl so this will be a case by case thing so I'll only mention one of the bird if it's a livestock animal or is mentioned in the wiki page - in cult of the lamb as chicken and duck we don't have goose or pheasant - birds are used to much for me to go into detail so the times mentioned is happening again though the pheasant gets a bit of detail specifically it's a green pheasant that used to be sacrificed at Shinto festivals in Japan now for the times mentioned, bird 2 times, goose/geese 2 times, rooster/chicken 7 times, poultry 1 time, fowl 2 times, duck 1 time
horse (plus donkey) - in cult of the lamb as horse to be fair a donkey follower would look kinda the same in-game we also have a unicorn - horses and donkeys are mentioned as a possiblity in ancient greece but there doesn't seem to be much evidence for it, Scythians considered horses to be the most prestigious offering, large amounts of horses would be sacrificed in ancient china however this seems to be rare as the wiki page just has a picture in that section labeled Horse sacrifice to Duke Jing of Qi 5th century BCE China, horses have also been used in Japan as sacrifice in the same context as the pheasant
canines specifically domestic dogs and wild dogs - in cult of the lamb as dog, poppy (a schnauzer), Ralpherz and Frankerz we don't really have a wild dog but the wild canines we have are fox, fennec fox, and wolf - in ancient rome Robigo was specifically given red dogs (and red wine) for protection of crops from blight and red mildew, dogs and wild dogs were used in ancient china being sacrificed at different times of the year by nobles but these sacrifices would lessen if there were hard times the dogs were considered spirit guides, there's also the story of the church grim a black dog in church graveyards which comes from the belief that the first to be buried in a graveyard would have to guard it and help spirits but couldn't pass on so a dog was buried first
camel - not in cult of the lamb the closest we have is llama - used in Islam by those on pilgrimage to mecca during Eid al-Adha the wording of the wiki page implies that the camel is sacrificed by a group also mentions that the meat is shared amongst the community it's one of four species that are considered lawful for this sacrifice
bear - in cult of the lamb - sacrificed in Japan at some Shinto festivals as well as at lomante (イオマンテ) sometimes written as Iyomante (イヨマンテ) which is a ainu ceremony that uses a brown bear
deer - in cult of the lamb as deer, stag, moose and deer skull - sacrificed in Japan at some Shinto festivals
hare - not in cult of the lamb - Hares were buried with humans in neolithic age europe archaeologists interpret this as a religious ritual with hares representing rebirth this tradition continued for a long time, hares have also been used in rituals related to the beginning of spring which is likely the pagan origin of easter
rabbit - in cult of the lamb (there's also star bunny) - rabbits are less historically sacrificed but are still associated with it for example the story behind the rabbit in the moon is about self sacrifice though it's been interpreted as both hare and rabbit, there is also the rabbit test or friedman test an early pregnancy test rabbits were injected with the urine of a person who might be pregnant the rabbit is then dissected to look for changes in the ovaries other animals have been used for this but rabbits are the more well known one
More followers because it's actually really fun to draw them in this art style
Fejul is the mother of Maar, the red cat from my previous follower drawings, and Pamerno. Born and raised in the cult, she is one of the lamb's most devout followers. When Tyno, the yellow cat, joined the cult after losing his family, she took him in and cared for him as one of her sons.
Anno is the youngest child of Fety. He perished while the lamb was away fighting Leshy in purgatory, having fallen ill after consuming menticide mushrooms. When the lamb returned, they scraped together all the bones that they could and used them to resurrect Anno.
Namerna is a newer follower, rescued from Helob. Despite the lamb saving them, they remain cynical and faithless, whispering behind the lambs back to anyone who will listen.
