The fluffy purple spider who traps converts in webs and sells them to the Lamb for Coins, before he eats them.
Helob is the friendliest cannibal in the game. The giant purple spider traps stray creatures in his webs and fully intends to eat them, but he will happily sell them to the Lamb first for a handful of Coins.
He is the follower merchant. Per the wiki, Helob is a spider NPC who sells and eats followers, lurking in the forests of every crusade region with shops marked on the map.
He is also worth farming. According to the wiki, buying enough followers from Helob earns the Fervour's Host tarot card, and his prices shift with your progress and the condition of the follower on offer.
This guide covers who Helob is, how his follower shop and prices work, his shop outside your cult, the Number One Customer reward, and how he changes after the endgame and in Woolhaven.
A purple spider merchant who sells, and otherwise eats, followers.
Followers for 0 to 50 Coins, cheaper if they are sick, elderly, dissenting, or hungry.
Across the crusade regions and outside your cult by the Silk Cradle door.
Buy 3 from him in dungeons to earn the Fervour's Host tarot card.Helob is a follower-selling NPC and, by nature, a predator. Per the wiki he is a large spider with a fluffy purple body, several thin limbs, loose bones in his fur, and stingers on his head and body.
His method is grim but useful. According to the wiki, Helob traps potential converts for the Lamb's cult in giant spider webs in the forests of the world, and he eats them if they are not bought in time. Every follower you buy from him is one you rescued from his dinner plate.
He turns up everywhere the Lamb crusades. The wiki lists his shops across Darkwood, Anura, Anchordeep, 
Shamura's Silk Cradle, and later Woolhaven, so the spider merchant is a constant companion to your runs. For the rest of the cast, see the full 
Cult of the Lamb characters roster.
Helob sells followers for 0 to 50 Coins, and the price depends on the goods. Per the wiki, the cost is lowered for sick, elderly, dissenting, and hungry followers, since a worse follower is a cheaper meal to give up.
Sometimes he just gives them away. According to the wiki, Helob may occasionally hand over a follower for free, remarking that the Lamb "must hunger muchly" or that a particular follower "doesn't look tasty."
0 to 50 Coins (set by the follower's condition) Sick or elderly (cheaper for poor-condition followers)
Bones and Follower Meat (breaking props in his shop drops loot)His shop is easy to spot. The wiki notes the map icon shows a shop symbol with a follower symbol underneath it, and breaking the props around his lair gives Bones and Follower Meat on top of the recruit.
After you visit Anura, Helob sets up a second shop at home. Per the wiki, he stations himself outside your cult by the door to the Silk Cradle, giving the Lamb a steady source of followers without a full crusade.
That convenience comes with limits. According to the wiki, the cult-door followers almost always cost the full 50 Coins, only one can be bought per day, and he will not restock until you go on another crusade, though he still occasionally gives one away free.
It is a reliable trickle, not a flood. In practice the door shop is best used to top up your population between runs, while the in-dungeon shops are where the cheaper deals and the tarot reward live.
Buying enough followers from Helob earns a tarot card. Per the wiki, purchasing at least three followers from him during dungeon encounters makes the Lamb his "number one customer" and grants the Fervour's Host 
tarot card.
The location of the purchases matters. The wiki specifies that only followers bought during dungeon encounters count toward the three, so the ones you buy outside the Cult's HQ at the Silk Cradle door do not progress the reward.
It is an easy bonus to chase. Since you will be passing Helob's shops on crusades anyway, grabbing three in-dungeon followers folds neatly into normal runs and adds a permanent card to your deck.
Buy your three reward followers inside dungeons, not at home. Per the wiki, only in-dungeon purchases count toward the Fervour's Host card, so do not assume the cheap door followers are progressing it. Prioritize a Helob buy whenever his shop appears on a crusade.
Helob gets greedier once the story turns. Per the wiki, after the Lamb defeats The One Who Waits, he doubles his prices in front of your cult, punishing you for becoming a god with a sudden markup.
The Woolhaven DLC moves him again. According to the wiki, once The Rot has been visited, Helob relocates his shop to Woolhaven and starts selling Rotten Followers alongside his usual stock.
So the spider scales with your save. From a free first-time deal to doubled endgame prices to a rot-themed Woolhaven inventory, Helob stays the Lamb's go-to recruiter through every stage of the game.
Helob keeps your flock stocked between crusades. These guides cover the regions he haunts, the Bishops at their end, and what to do with the followers he sells.
Game data and screenshots adapted from cult-of-the-lamb.fandom.com, used under CC BY-SA 3.0. Original content remains the property of the wiki contributors and Massive Monster and Devolver Digital.