#they share a species and that species is ‘Eldritch’

[minecraftbookshelf]

Random Minecraft YouTube Cinematic Universe Headcanon #1

Ethoslab and LDShadowLady are the same species.

They aren’t but they are.

He is Void and she is Shadow. Little fragments of the primordial universe given sentience and a name and a Player form.

[cheeseanonioncrisps]

Stuck on the idea of vampires as a kind of reverse fae, or like someone's twisted, perverse attempt at moulding humans into fae.

They're repelled by liminal spaces.

A vampire could never enter fairyland, not just because they'd never be welcomed, but because most of the usual entry-ways are naturally barred to them.

They can't cross running water. They can't be seen in mirrors. They will wait forever at a crossroads, unable to pick a direction to go in. They can't even step over a thresh-hold unless there is absolutely no ambiguity about whether they are welcome inside.

They crave human blood, iron and salt, but are repelled by herbs and plants. They are supernaturally prevented from harming you unless the rules of hospitality have been invoked.

A fairy may replace your newborn child with something unnatural and ever-hungry. A vampire will do the same, but with your grandmother's corpse.

The fae are typically associated, even in stories where they're the bad guys, with flourishing and purity. Vampires, even in stories where they're the good guys, are typically associated with decay and corruption.

The fae turn ancient human burial mounds into fancy halls for their courts. Vampires take ancient human castles and let them grow mildewed and cobwebbed, exchanging the beds for coffins, turning them into burial places.

Fae don't tend to live among humans, but can generally pass for them with relative ease if they so choose. Vampires nearly always live among humans, but tend to find not revealing themselves a huge struggle.

I can't think of many stories I've read where fae and vampires even exist in the same universe, let alone ones where they actively interact. I feel like their enmity is almost more inevitable than that between vampires and werewolves, however.

The rivalry between vampires and werewolves is, essentially, the rivalry between two apex predator species who share a territory. (Even in stories where the werewolves aren't actually hunting humans.)

The vampires hate the werewolves because the werewolves interfere with their access to prey. The werewolves hate the vampires either because they consider themselves aligned with humans (the prey species), or because they are also predators and the vampires are competing with them.

By comparison, I think there's some story potential in the fae finding something genuinely creepy and uncanny valley about vampires.

They're immortal, like them, but also dead. They can be beautiful, like them, but that beauty is something they actively require humans to sustain. They like to inhabit beautiful and ancient ex-human dwellings, like them, but they actively work to make those places dark, damp and empty.

Fairies who are unflappable in the face of all sorts of Otherworldly monsters, can look an eldritch horror in the eye(s) without blinking, and have never been phased yet by any human, but will recoil from even the weakest vampire.

Vampires who hate fairies just as much, but in a more envious way. The way that the creature for whom immortality is a curse is bound to hate the creatures for whom immortality is an eternity of sunlight and laughter.

Maybe their touches burn each other. Maybe vampires can't stand physical contact with anything so alive and vital. Maybe immortal fairies become ill from too much exposure to the undead.

Maybe they fight over the human population when their territories overlap. The fairy need for servants and people to make deals with, competing with the vampire need for thralls and blood to drink.

Just… fairies and vampires. We need more stories about them interacting.

[machveil]

if you're still taking blurb requests could you maybe do octopus hybrid könig who thinks he's doing a great job at hiding his secret of being an eldritch horror (he isn't) x roommate reader who knows but doesn't care? like they're both chilling on the couch, watching a movie, and reader subtly nudges a tentacle back under his hood after they caught it poking out. basically just könig being a goofy idiot:)

(König x Reader sketch at the end♥️✨) König, bless his heart, was confident in his ability to keep his eldritch appearance under lock and key. to his credit, he’d never had a roommate - it was muscle memory to perform certain tasks with the help of an extra arm.

when you moved in he was inwardly cocky. you’d never know that you were sharing an apartment with an eldritch nightmare of a man, what a silly little mortal! König was just too good at putting up a facade, his mask concealing tentacles that would no doubt alarm you.

to be fair, it did freak you out when you first saw them. it was just out of your peripheral, light reflecting off the glistening appendages. König, stood in the kitchen, idly washing dishes. two hands washing and rinsing ceramic plates, two tentacles drying them and putting them on a rack.

it was muscle memory for him, completely unaware of your presence and simply doing chores with extra help. caught up in his own world, you stood frozen, but ultimately decided he seemed harmless. you had been living with him for a month, and he was polite, always paid his half of the rent…

why mess up something good? if he didn’t bring it up, neither would you.

a year easily passed by, König’s well hidden secret never mentioned. he was so pleased with himself. you were none the wiser, right Maus? just his innocent little roommate, treating him like a normal man. he didn’t need to know about how you caught him carrying in groceries by himself five months ago - hands full, two tentacles easily carrying in the other bags. he didn’t need to know you saw him through the crack of his bedroom door two months ago, folding laundry while a tentacle was tucking his bedsheets in. he didn’t need to know that he had a tentacle out right now.

it was a lazy, stay-in-your-pajamas sort of night. the living room lights flicked off while a documentary played (König insisted that “this documentary is good, Maus— look, they talk about different species of mollusks.”). he was completely focused on the screen, relaxed against the couch and zoned in. so relaxed that a tentacle had slipped past the hem of his mask.

you didn’t think much of it, you’d grown accustomed to seeing his tentacles. that said, you’d never been so close to one. eyes flicking up towards his face, your hand slowly moves up. his gaze, completely on the tv, gives you the smallest bit of confidence to poke at the appendage. he didn’t seem to care, only when you finally moved it back under his hood did he glance down at you, an exasperated little sigh leaving him.

looks like you finally caught him.

(thank you for the inbox! I loved the idea so much - I hope the art is okay! I kept it sketchy and had fun drawing it🎀✨ I haven’t legitimately written anything since, like, sixth grade so I hope this wasn’t absolutely terrible lol)

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 224

DCxDP

Now Booster Gold would like it known he is Not father material, or even responsible adult material. That is Ted, and even then they seem to share a single braincell when they're in each others presence.

But again, NOT anything close to father material. Which he repeats to both himself and the eldritch Time Entity who just handed him what he Knows to be pretty much an unborn child of its species. look, he Knows about Realms Beings- Espranto was literally his first language like many others of his timeline- so he knows the inherent dangers.

But Somehow him becoming a time-cop of sorts has endeared him towards this primordial one, thankfully. Less thankfully, it has given him a whole-ass CHILD. A BABY. HIM. Of all people!

Ted he needs help, he doesn't know if this counts as mpreg or something and he's freaking out man!

[blackat-t7t]

The first Mandalorians were the Taung species, and the Taung were originally native to Coruscant

I think that could be a fun jumping-off point for an Eldritch Coruscant Guard story

Something to do with an Old God of War, maybe, and spilt blood that finally, finally drips low enough to touch the barren earth, far below the layers of glass and steel and concrete that stack on top of one another, like layers of rock hiding fossils from different ages

Taung blood. Impure, because there are no pure Taung anymore; yet Taung nevertheless, for some of the genes persist within populations in Mandalorian space, hiding in people that are otherwise Human (also called Zhell, the other species native to Coruscant)

A God of Change Through War, whose eternal adversary is a God of Sloth, Consumption, and Stagnation. And what else would such a war god see in corrupt, complacent senators?

The Force is clouded on Coruscant, smothered by the Sith darkness spreading like plague over the planet. Even the Jedi, who are called "the Force make physical", can't fully sense it though the fog. But gods are contained within the Force, as all things are, and they aren't so easily obstructed. The struggle between light and dark is a war too, neverending. The war god may care only for battle and bloodshed, may not care which side is victorious, but the Force tilts everything towards balance, and the Sith Lord has pressed it too far.

Old ghosts of Taung Mandalorians long gone- the Dha Werda Verda themselves- prowl the surface of the planet, far below the vaunted skyscrapers. They appear to other warriors- other Taung- other Mandalorians, linked to them by the universal soul of the Manda- and whisper to them of glorious battle: kote, darasuum kote.

The words are a chant that all clones know, like they know the beating of their hearts: one of the few pieces of Mandalorian culture Fett deigned to share with them. One of only a handful of songs given in its original form, in Mando'a, without the words twisted out of true to fit the clones' service to the Republic. The clones of the Guard never learned the true Dha Werda Verda chant. That was a privilege reserved for the Nulls and Alphas, and the commandos favored by Mandalorian trainers. But they heard it, in passing; heard the beat, even if they couldn't make out the words. And now when they wake from dreams with those words ringing in their heads- Dha Werda Verda a'den tratu, Manda'yaim kandosii adu- they know the meaning in their bones.

The god, the ghosts- they're reaching up from the planet's surface, though the levels of construction piled like layers of stone, like ages of time; feeding on blood and blaster smoke and all the traces of war. They're wrapping their claws around the only beings they can touch and urging them to fulfil their destiny: to go to war.

[eldritch-spouse]

https://www.tumblr.com/eldritch-spouse/752304229892358144/minors-dni-hhnrh-ive-always-wanted-to-make-a?source=share

I need more Rudy. Like .. it's a very strong need...please I'm begging you 😭

[HhhhnHHHNN WORD VOMIT INCOMING-]

Following the events of what transpires in the comic "Aliens: Stronghold" (you can find it online), Jeri the synthetic xenomorph is supposedly dead, as is Doctor Nordling. The Mayakovsky prototype records along with whatever modifications Nordling created are lost forever...

But are they?

What if a somewhat less insane crew managed to perhaps gather parts of the wreckage that ensued, studied them just enough to know how to make their own, different yet still entirely functional synthetic xenomorph? A crew that does value the monitoring of xenomorph colonies spread throughout the worlds wherein these hives are placed upon to gestate, and polices the illegal harvesting of eggs or specimen (idk, bare with me okay).

The model they designed, based heavily on Jeri, needed a couple key modifications. First, it needed to be distinct enough from the standard xenomorph drone, such so that people would not get frightened by the sight of it amongst crewmates. These differences in appearance are remedied by even more aggressive pheromone secretions to both fool and calm biological xenomorphs into believing that Rudy belongs. His somewhat less accurate appearance also allows for his maintenance to be cheaper, as well as for the synth to fit into humanoid gear more effectively.

Named after the prototype Norbert, and Jeri, Rudy only seemed fitting.

Quite like his predecessor, and as appears to be a trend recently, Rudy has a very stark and unique personality that shows itself whenever he begins to grow comfortable around someone. He's curious and talkative, having a fondness for oversharing about the xenomorph species and its many casts, as well as his interests in collecting new and exciting pieces of the world he's currently exploring with his mostly human crew and all things nature-related.

Although he's nothing if not helpful and vital to the work that is being done by this team, Rudy is still a synthetic, which creates a natural divide when it comes to forming relationships. Normally, this divide is somewhat softened when a synthetic passes as human and performs actions that make it look even more relatable. Rudy is visibly, unavoidably monstrous, and he makes no real attempt to fit in with acts that are strictly human. He will sit at the table while others eat, but he's very clearly not interested in commenting on the food and tries to pull others into conversation instead. He doesn't wear clothes, he can't facially emote anywhere as intricately as a human can.

He's lonely. And he understands why.

But it's painful for the synthetic xenomorph, because he feels no joy dwelling with other synthetics, and he can't bond with xenomorphs the way he desires. He feels at home around humans, and his own crew keeps him at bay, frustrating Rudy as they consistently deny him a real connection- Sometimes even subconsciously!

That's where you come in.

Following the unfortunate accident of the resident synthetic engineer on the ship, you are assigned his role. Arriving just in time, as Rudy is in dire need of assistance from miscalculating the height of a drop. He doesn't think much of you, at first. You'll be just like the others, finding him interesting for a short while, then resorting to formalities or simply ignoring him when he's not immediately convenient.

But he still tries anyway, because he's painfully desperate for connection.

Imagine his shock as you seem very interested in conversing with him in a consistent manner. Rudy is no idiot, he understood your interest was mainly to understand the circuitry and coding within him that allowed for such an authentic and varied range of emotions, sentiments. He fascinated you beyond merely being a bizarre thing, and that made the synth happy, fulfilled.

Rudy began to latch onto you.

When he had arrived from a routine check on a hive, he'd instantly seek you out without even needing any kind of repair, just to chat about his findings, talking about the specimen xenos the same way you'd talk about zoo mascots. He'd try to drag you down into the field with him numerous times, formulating rapid-fire arguments as to why the supervisors should allow you to accompany Rudy. You can't lie and say that you weren't a tad curious, especially after hearing the xeno's numerous stories.

Somehow, after perhaps not so friendly methods, he gets granted his wish, and down you go, into the wilderness, with a synthetic.

Rudy seems elated to have alone time with you in the nature of this vast planet, and you note that he touches you a lot more often. Grabs you with his six fingered hands, nuzzles his dome against your head, hugs you from behind and even lifts you a couple of times, he's utterly euphoric, something you've never seen in a synth. Sure, your crewmates had made comments about how close Rudy had gotten to you, how the synthetic "had a puppy crush on you", but those were just jabs you didn't mind taking. And surely, when Rudy replied positively to those jests, he was only trying to get in on the joke, right?

You remember the shock and fear that permeated you as you first entered a colony. Rudy didn't let you get too far into the structure, but you got to observe the entrance, the little resting holes on walls that xenos occupied when drained. You got to see drones marching around, dragging potential hosts with them. And you even got "checked" by a soldier cast. It had been strange then, watching Rudy communicate back and forth with the xenomorph, effectively clearing you of suspicion after a few snort-hisses. Your heart never beat so loudly before, and you remember laughing wildly with the synthetic after the two of you had retreated into safer grounds.

Yet, for as much as you had grown to enjoy having Rudy as a friend, you couldn't ignore the remarks your crewmated had been making about him. How the synth would ravenously defend you from the smallest of accusations, how he collected everything you left behind and would even steal presents you gave to others. He became mouthy and troublesome when they refused to let you go explore with him.

And lately, to make it all even more confusing, you've been finding him "doing maintenance" on himself. Things he won't let you access, that he tries to deviate your attention from. For just the glimmer of a second, you hope you only imagined spotting the digital blueprint for a set of modified synthetic genitalia...

Something's not right with Rudy, you think, catching him staring intensely at you again.

[rpgsandbox]

Wilderfeast is an RPG about becoming part of the natural world by making it part of you.

Players assume the role of “wilders”: monster hunters/chefs who wield gargantuan kitchen implements and gain powerful mutations from each monster they eat. Using those powers, they seek harmony between humanity and the wild.

All creatures, be they humans or monsters, obey the One Law of the One Land…

In Wilderfeast, players take on the role of the mutated rangers who roam the land trying to stop the frenzy, an eldritch virus which makes kaiju-esque monsters violent and self-destructive before leaping to stronger hosts.

Gameplay alternates between Journeys (high-intensity, travel and combat) and Downtime (low-intensity, rest and roleplay). In both phases, you resolve conflicts with a simple but flexible dice pool system, built around a central idea…

Wilders are both, so they can choose which of their sides to embrace when taking Tests: will you focus up, and stay true to your human side, or go wild, and unleash the monster in you?

The world of Wilderfeast is the One Land - a post-post-apocalyptic supercontinent, both familiar and fantastic, beautiful and harsh, where food is magic.

The One Land is vast, wild, and old. It’s populated by humans and monsters, extraordinary creatures who take inspiration from paleontology, cryptozoology, and works like Monster Hunter and Godzilla.

The One Land is also vulnerable. Humans, relative newcomers here, have unleashed the frenzy, an eldritch virus which makes coexistence between humanity and the creatures everyday more difficult.

The One Land is not an easy place to live. It is littered with both the bones of extinct species and the ruins of fallen civilizations. But after each apocalypse, something new and green grows from the ashes.

Wilderfeast’s system is fast, customizable and easy to learn.

All creatures, both humans and monsters, have these attributes:

When something’s at stake, you roll a Test. Every Test combines a Style with a Skill, such as a Mighty Call to intimidate a monster into backing away or a Swift Search to follow tracks in the undergrowth.

Wilderfeast has a simple but flexible dice pool system. The mechanics are built around a central idea: humans use d8s and monsters use d20s. Wilders are both human and monstrous, and they can switch between these dice sizes.

To build your dice pool, gather a number of d6s equal to your level in the Test’s Style (such as “Mighty”, “Precise”, “Swift” or Tricky”). These are called your Style Dice. Every 5+ on your Style dice grants you a Success on the Test.

Then, add your Action Dice, which determines the quality of the Success you eventually achieved. Humans use a d8 for their Action Die, while monsters use a d20. However, wilders are both. During this step, you choose which side of yourself to embrace. 

If you focus up, you stay true to your human side: add a d8 Action Die to your dice pool. This option is consistent and reliable.

If you go wild, you embrace your monster side: choose one of your Traits and describe how it helps you in this situation. Then, remove 1 Style Die and replace it with a d20 Action Die. This is risky, as it lowers your overall chance of success, but it could make your action an order of magnitude more effective. Now, roll your dice pool for a Test.

Tests create a spectrum of results beyond binary success and failure. The range of choices when making Tests also accommodates different playstyles. You can aim for big numbers, deep strategies, and tactical play. Or you can get creative and add details to the fiction.

Wilders are the ones most capable of stopping the spiral of fear and death that’s consuming the One Land. They’re not a formal order: some look like cavemen, others like wandering knights. Each is free to decide how to take on the job, but they all share some common attributes:

Each wilder has a Tool, enormous kitchen implements to produce mind-boggling amounts of food. Wilders repurposed those artifacts as weapons, though they still come in handy as cooking aids. There are 6 Tools in total (Cleaver, Pan, Mitts, Spit, Torch and Twine), and they define a wilder’s “class”: your training, disposition, and approach to being a wilder.

Each wilder has a Specialty, which corresponds to one of the monstrous lineages. Your choice of Specialty indicates your character’s expertise in both hunting and caring for members of that lineage. There are eight Specialties in total, like Roaster, Fisher, Butcher or Gardener.

Each wilder has a three-course Background. Your backstory, initiation and drive, framed through food: what meal defined your childhood? What meal made you a wilder? What meal do you crave the most?

These mutated rangers work in packs and have taken on the duty to stop the frenzy. Packs are free to decide both what harmony with nature means and how they hope to achieve it. For example, bounty-packs resemble the grizzled mercenaries of The Witcher, while free-packs evoke the wolf-raised warrior of Princess Mononoke.

As a wilder, what path will you walk?

The One Land’s ecosystems are original, but not alien. All monsters celebrate and exaggerate the features of real animals, from dinosaurs to dogs. Their supernatural abilities are grounded in the struggles they face to survive. A breath-taking variety of creatures that share this world with humans and wilders: 30+ different creatures, each with its own Traits, body Parts and Behavior that make every hunt different.

Wilderfeast features a modern and versatile style of combat that blends puzzle-solving thrills and fast-paced action strategy. Every pack of Wilders can take a different approach to the Hunt: will you split in groups and attract the monster’s fury to expose its weak spots, or will you growl at its face and go full frontal?

Each creature gains 3 Actions at the start of their turn during combat, which they can spend on the following Activities, each with a variable cost:

Combat orbits around the Monster, so you measure all distance in combat using Strides. Wilders spend combat between 0 Strides, where you’re right on top of the Monster, and 4 Strides, where you just barely register as a threat.

This number represents the distance you’re maintaining, not your static position. At all times during a hunt, you’re circling the Monster, chasing after it, or driving it toward more favorable terrain. Two wilders who are the same number of Strides from the Monster could either be right next to each other or on opposite sides of it, but that’s intentional. Moving around or with the Monster is automatic; moving towards or away from it takes effort.

The iconic meals of the wilders combine the roughness of campfire cooking with the ceremony of a holiday festival. These wilderfeasts are celebration and mourning, all wrapped up in one. During this phase, you clean, prepare, and cook the Monster where it fell, turning it into a meal that honors its legacy and gives you strength. In doing so, you learn about it. The more you know about the Monster, the better informed your decision when you choose what mutation to inherit: after you eat The Feast, choose a Style, Skill, or Trait in which the Monster has more levels than you do, or which you don’t have at all. You permanently gain a level in that Style, Skill, or Trait. 

Not every meal gives such dramatic mutations as a wilderfeast, but food is always magic in the One Land, even the most casual of snacks. Before setting out on the road, a merchant eats a meal full of hardy greens to give them the endurance for a day of travel; a guard, beginning their shift in a watchtower, chews on raptor jerky to sharpen their eyesight; a student brews tea with a night-blooming flower so they can stay up late studying. The changes caused by these meals are subtle and temporary, and they're woven into the fabric of everyday life.

When you have a cooking opportunity, such as when you Camp during your Journeys, you and your packmates can make a meal. To cook, you select Ingredients, determine how much Stamina the meal restores (typically 1 for each Ingredient used), and determine the meal’s effect, choosing among those of the Ingredients you used.

These meals can either be served fresh or saved for later and turned into Snacks (so that you can consume a portion when you need to restore Stamina or trigger other effects but you don’t have the time to stop and cook). Once you’ve cooked the meal, be sure to describe it! Tell everyone enough about the dish’s flavor, textures, or appearance that they can taste it in their head.

Wilderfeast is a letter-sized, hardcover book of 250+ pages, with full-color art throughout. It includes:

Fast and robust character creation, with 6 Tools (each with their own set of unlockable Traits), 8 Specialties, and suggestions for your three-course backstory. No matter how you build your character, you start with connections to the One Land and your fellow players.

Streamlined and accessible rules for each phase of the game.

A Bestiary with 30+ monsters, each with their own art, stats, and ecological information.

A travel guide, exploring the One Land and the Sen Coast, with detailed maps and extensive tables of cooking ingredients.

The Last Chamig, a set of four standalone scenarios also playable as an overarching campaign. These accessible and easy to set up scenarios are designed to introduce Guides and Wilders to the game system and come with full-detailed maps, stat blocks, pregenerated characters, an a set-list of events. The pitches for each chapter of The Last Chamig will be revealed over the course of the Kickstarter campaign!

Essential advice for running the game, including recommended safety tools, tips for creating your own monsters and regions, and player-empowering mechanics to help the group define the adventures they want to have. Do you want to steward the wild, get stronger, protect your community, or explore ruins from the ancient past?

==============================

Kickstarter campaign ends: Tue, September 26 2023 10:59 PM BST

Website: [Horrible Guild] [facebook] [twitter] [instagram]

[pessimisticshapewithablog]

The Cultist enemy type aren't normal animals.

Atleast not anymore...

I picked up Darkest dungeon again and came across an enemy that I recognized.

This is a Cultist Priest.

Look familiar?

Darkest Dungeon came out before COTL and share many themes, such as cults(obviously) eldritch gods and the like, so I can assume the devs took inspiration for some of the enemies.

When it comes to the Cultists it's easy to see something isn't quite right about them, COTL's questionable anatomy aside.

That's far too many eyes and somehow not enough eyes.

And what's going on here? Is that supposed to an eye? Why is it so long? Many questions, very few answers to be found in-game. So let's look outside of it.

The faithful...

In Darkest Dungeon, the Cultist Priest are followers who's devotion to their "god" was so great they were rewarded with a new body, remade in it's image.

This was once a human.

The Priest's responsibilities are to perform rituals to empower their god, something we see the COTL cultist doing when we rescue followers, and wear these robes, very similar to the one worn by Old Faith cultist, to hide their bodies. Also in Darkest Dungeon, the priests are classified as "eldritch + beast" even with their former human status.

A beast is just another way of referring to an animal and in COTL case, it's world is populated by sapient and none sapient animals. The Bishops are also quick to refer to the Lamb as a "beast" even though they're all animals so it might have a derogatory connotation or is the Bishops way of putting themselves above "mortal" animals. With a crown comes enlightenment etc.

With this in mind, I make the assumption that cultists in COTL have undergone a similar process as the ones in Darkest Dungeon. They have been changed by their worship of the Bishops. But unlike in DD, I can't be certain if it was at the will of the god being worshipped.

As we can see in COTL there are different ranks of cultists, with lowest being Scamps and the highest being Enforcers, the floating variety being classed as sorcerers. In DD the Cultist Priest are the highest ranking of their order, whereas in COTL there is an observably hierarchy amongst the robed cultists.

It might be that scamps are the first form of new converts with each the other types, Swordsman, Archers, and Bomber being specializations a scamp could take. Those with an affinity for magic become sorcerers and healers. And the oldest followers have the potential of becoming Enforcers. I say the oldest followers because Enforcers only pop up in the Domain of the Oldest Bishops, Anchordeep and SilkCradle.

The Beasts...

It could also be totally random what cultists a follower becomes without direct influence from a god, see most of the Mini Bosses. Amdusias was very clear a scamp that was transformed into a monster. Same with Hauras, who's clearly covered in the remnants of their cultist robes. It's unknown what they looked like before but it's possible they were they looked like their follower forms, minus the odd growths. But what about the "animals" enemy types that also appear in the Bishops domain?

Their existence is what makes me believe the change that happens to cultists is a side-effects of their worship, maybe even just proximity, to the Bishops, or Crowns. Like the Bishops and/or Crowns give off some sort of eldritch radiation that changes the world around them and remakes it in their image. Or the critters were drawn to the gods of their kind who chose biome conducive to their species survival. Either way, just like the Cultist, there is something not-quite-right about the beasts.

Conclusion

We don't really learn much about the Old Faith Cultists, or the critters that inhabit their doman, in-game but the designs had to be inspired from somewhere so, this is my contribution.

I wonder if we'll ever learn more about them and their motivations for joining the old faith. Did they join out of fear of death, or were they willing to join the Bishop's congregation for the power and protection they offered...?

[stackslip]

exordia is great two thirds in. top five characters so far, in no particular order

ugandan-filipina lesbian physicist with a severe catholic guilt complex and equally a strong catholic urge to reach for the divine and protect it to the cost of her body and sanity and every aspect of herself

chinese mathematician who calls herself a liar while being quite literally pathologically obsessed with The Mathematical Truth Of The Universe who guides self loathing lesbian to revelation

kurdish failmom survivor of genocide who sometimes has alcohol-fueled blackouts and resents her seven year old daughter for saving her and others' lives through horrific war crimes, is also in a fucked up threesome with said war crimes daughter (now an adult) and their shared alien snake wife who speaks to them both telepathically

the other alien snake guy around who knows his species is damned to hell from birth and wishes to free it from damnation but is also very ok with going to hell himself because he fucking loves committing atrocities and yells I LOVE GENOCIDE in the middle of the book

the eldritch thing that has manifested in kurdistan that turns everyone into fractals and is older than the universe itself and desperately awaits someone to unlock it and give it a soul

[fandom-zoomer]

I think I may have come up with the best worst tma time travel “fix-it” au (imho)

Inspired by Ketakoshka's 'dread spawn' idea in their dread child jon series, Dribbledscribbles' origin story for the dread powers and extinction entity interpretation in their extinction!jon fic (and some more of the latter in their post-eyepocalypse fic too), as well as my own love for making unholy (aka fun) fusions of things and sandboxing eldritch interactions with the 'mundane' . . .

. . . I have created a post-canon, Somewhere Else, time travel ""fix-it"" story that I think might be unique (at least I've never seen any fics like it– but if I'm wrong then please please share the link!! or dm me if it's your own work hehe but no pressure!!)

(mag 160+ spoilers after this point!)

(i'm about to wax poetics here (hopefully coherently)—so you can read the story-ramble OR you can scroll to the TL;DR at the bottom to skip it & spoilers to read the nutshell & see if you're interested :3)

so get this...

The big Change happens right? But this time the Extinction is a bigger player in the game than canon, and ultimately deeply marks Jon throughout the eyepocalypse.

So when the finale happens, since Jon is now connected to the epicenter of the whole show, his 'death' and the panopticon's destruction has the simultaneous effect of baiting the Dread Powers into the Hole (via his voice in the spools of tape)– and also killing everyone trapped by the Dread Powers in the world via Jon the walking detonator thanks to being entrenched in the Extinction's influence. —Combining both his best and worst plans and realizing his worst nightmare: killing everyone and spreading the Powers to an unknown number of worlds to wreak even more havoc.

How did this happen?

Simple—but first some backstory for context.

The Extinction was more of a 'lurker', much less "outgoing" than its 'siblings'. And when it was "grandiose", well. . . it tended to leave no survivors. Thus its unrecognition by those like Robert Smirke or Jürgen Leitner.

To go back even further, the Dread entities were originally one cohesive entity with many faces and limbs. Its faces reflected the same developmental complexity as the sources of their manifestation. So those with the most diverse species feeding them held the widest capacities. Namely: the Hunt, End, and Extinction. But being a singular entity, it didn't mean much.

But as human species' family lines develop and grow more complex cognitive ability, more esoteric Dreads developed, and more faces become more complex. And the Extinction was right there from the beginning as more species died out one by one. Quietly. (...maybe? 👀)

Over time humans discovered the Powers and bonded with them, then started to classify them. From here, the Dread entity fragmented into Dread entities.

They developed their own 'consciousnesses' distinct from the hive 'mind' they once were. And, eventually, sapience. Self-awareness. Desires. Personalities. But they were still connected, part of the 'system'.

The Extinction and the Web (newer, but always sapient) are a quirky pair, the Web seeking control over everything and the Extinction seeking ultimate entropy and change upon its catastrophe.

It's hard to distinguish the Extinction exactly, its work misidentified for others with few under its own unique umbrella. Things 'unique' to it get missed due to being a misnomer and not getting clocked. (But that is the nature of the Dread Powers after all.. being a fragmentation of their original singular mass.)

...

The Extinction represents the fear of disaster that will bring about the end of everything—everything you know, love, need to survive. Everything you built, worked for, hoped for. The destruction of stories and of life, of the very history written by your land—your home.

Your community. Your society. Your species.

You.

Annihilated in totality.

The Extinction represents the fear of those that come after you to replace you—worse than you, different from you. Leaving you and your history and stories (the driver of your continued existence) forgotten forever. The fear of life moving on after you, ignorant and apathetic. Your story meaningless, irrelevant.

Your community's story. Your society's story. Your species' story.

Your story.

Erased and written over.

The Web represents the fear of being controlled, fate being out of your hands—by malevolent authorities out of reach, by abusive companions or relatives, by invisible forces far beyond the human comprehension. Spinning, winding, twisting, pulling each decision in your life made for you. Until destruction of the self by your own hand.

Your struggle for change futile. Your feet following the same path. Your fate determined for you.

You forfeit control—your feet march you to your bitter demise.

The Web represents the fear of being conspired against. Scheming, plotting, planning your downfall. The loss of everything you hold dear, worked for, bled for. Spinning, twisting, scripting lies about you. Your credibility falls to pieces, your world shatters, and your story distorts.

You are kept alive by the spreading of your story. And the people have decided to trust the manufactured tale.

You are forgotten—twisted into an image of something wrong.

...

Sometimes they're at odds. Where one seeks to manipulate the threads of everything endlessly, the other seeks to destroy it all so thoroughly, with such finality, as to mutate it– the schemes, the pawns, the gameboard itself.

Sometimes they're complementary. Where you watch as you lose everyone you cared for one by one, spiraling down a path darker into entropy, the irreversible nightmare, and wondering if you ever really had free will in the first place– if anyone did.

What if the end for you really was just another game to them? What if this wasn't their first round? What if you're just the next step in the grand scheme, larger than even your own universe?

Alright, now with that out of the way, let's bring back the question.

How did the Extinction change Jon, and how did this cause the altered result of the finale?

The Web has been there since the near beginning, pulling Jon along and guiding him to his next milestone in the plot. She had known the world would come to an end one way or another, and wanted to bring it about on her own terms so that she—they all—could escape it.

So when the Web saw what the Eye was doing, she had an idea. So she aided their acolytes, seeing her sibling as the perfect way to bring all of them together for the final step. And the Web set her own card onto the board: Jon.

Jon had a natural disposition for the Eye; from stubborn curiosity to the reckless pursuit for answers to even the coldest cases. Whether he knows it or not, his mind is a gaping maw for horrible knowledge—chasing after experiences disguised as answers to his burning questions so dreadful they leave scars on him like sigils of a looming doom.

While he has no affinity for the Web's machinations, he is still hers. She has no issue with guiding agents from across the court, she knows how to share. Especially when it benefits her. Jon archives each event, every little detail, with such care and readiness that he makes the perfect vessel to pull them in—to guide them out. He'd flourish best as her tool in the Watcher's sphere.

After the Watcher's Crown and the Dread Powers came into the world, the Extinction started to make its presence known. It seeped into other Domains and fed on the people's dread for permanent catastrophic change, on their fear of ruin and total desctruction. And as Jon traversed them and lived through their fear, so was he marked by the Extinction.

It seeped into his skin like oil and burned through his veins like acid. It tainted his trails with the radioactivity of human hubris and greed, twisting and mutating both the mundane and Dreadful as he passed. It closed its grasp on him with the tightness plastic rings and infected his Perceived routes with the stench of mountainous landfill and the thickness of city smog.

The Web and the Extinction had a complex relationship, but in this moment they guided the Archivist in synchronous song like a soldier being led to his final mission: dropping the nuclear bomb.

Did Jon know?

...

No.

The twines of manipulation layer labyrinthine over everything, above and below and through every angle and dimension. Even the Nigh-Omniscient Antichrist and his All-Knowing God will never fathom its depths.

He might never know that he helped start the Extinction's ritual: Raze the Earth.

Or that both the Web and the Eye knew and did nothing. (honestly, the latter's only there for the show)

So when Martin stabbed Jon and Melanie lit the gas mainline, the threads around the world snapped and the glowing light of humanity's greatest sins exploded over everything—

—and they prayed—

—and they wept—

—and the Dreads rushed out torrentially. (pulling a few strays with them)

Now for the part you were all waiting for (well I was)—the Heart of this AU

The Dread Powers and the ones who were dragged with them were transported Somewhere Else– a parallel world in a parallel universe. But they were. . . Changed from their previous/original selves.

The tag-alongs—Martin & Jon of course, but also Annabelle Cane, Oliver Banks, Simon Fairchild, and Arthur Nolan—replaced their parallels at birth, and gained partial or full amnesia to their past lives. But their personalities are altered, reflecting some aspects of their pre-finale personalities.

Except for Jon. Jon, the Pupil of the Eye, the Warhead of the Extinction, the Spools of the Web, the Archive of the Dreads and linchpin to their escape. . . was significantly destroyed in the center of the storm. He got it and so much worse—a stick so short its existence was inverted.

While they did get reach the new universe, they had to reconstruct their linchpin/Archive that they're still connected to so that his total destruction doesn't tear them apart as well (being an Extinction avatar that's now deeply connected with them, he's capable of "taking them down with him").

When Jon was reborn, he was literally thrown into the world like a meteorite, landing with an explosive blast that rendered the surrounding area a lifeless wasteland in moments. High radioactivity and a deathly curse left few flora or fauna returning before wasting away soon after. Those that 'survived' did so by being infected by the Extinction or Corruption.

It would permanently remain uninhabitable, and it would take months before the withered stillborn spawn of the sapient eldritch Dread Entities would crawl out of the jagged crater on its own, none the wiser to its tragedies.

TL;DR

The Web manipulated Jon's attempt to put a stop to the Entities' reign, utilizing the Eye's easy influence to help the Dreads escape the world and into a fresh new one before they were also destroyed in the Extinction's "Raze the Earth" ritual (set up by using Jon to weave toxic-filled veins throughout the world he was traversing that'll explode at once 'grand finale' style).

Jon, now deeply binded to the Entities' purest forms and still an Extinction time-bomb, was mostly destroyed during the trip to Somewhere Else and the Entities had to reconstruct him so his death wouldn't destroy them too. This led to Jon being reborn a near completely different being (with some of him preserved) as functionally the direct spawn of the Dread Powers, replacing his parallel counterpart from the new world.

[pandiongames]

Substratum Protocol, the Solo+ Apocalyptic Mystery TTRPG by Pandion Games

The Substratum Protocol campaign is nearing its end! There are less than 24 hours left to join over 600 scientists on the expedition to save the planet!

If you haven’t yet, check out the campaign before it’s too late!

There have been some fun updates since launch, including additional artwork by Galen Pejeau, new rules for environmental hazards, and a big story update!

If you want to see what the game is about, we also have a free preview PDF for you on the campaign page.

An Anomaly

During our interview with Rascal News, we realized we had made a fundamental mistake in writing an open-ended mystery: We said what was at the core of the planet, an interdimensional portal. The portal being is now just one possibility. We spent last weekend updating all the writing to now be an anomaly. The otherworldly abilities you get from taking stress are now Anomaly Influences, rather than Portal Influences, for instance. The Expedition can still decide it's a portal, but calling it an anomaly opens up a huge range of possibilities. What is the anomaly that's splitting the earth open?

Is it a massive cosmic egg hatching a world eater as part of a natural lifecycle? 

Did an advance interstellar ship accidentally exit hyperspace at the center of the planet due to a miscalculation, and its damaged engines are holding open a hyperspace bubble? 

Is there a cult of advanced species calling forth eldritch gods with a powerful ritual that consumes planets to power it?

Substratum Protocol is about letting the clues and your answers determine what is really happening, and we think this update opens the floodgates for it.

Depth Sector Deep Dives

In our campaign updates, we have been talking about the different sectors players can visit and their inspiration. These are all available publicly on the campaign - but we wanted to share the Fracture Opening sector with you here.

How the Depth Sectors Work

Substratum Protocol is a collaborative mystery game. The text gives hints and whispers of possibilities, but strays away from definite answers. What you discover and imagine at your table becomes canon to the story and the setting. Each sector shows its location in the Fracture, includes in-universe handwritten notes from an unknown scientist, relevant art, and a table of events - each giving a glimpse into what the sector contains. Scientists can spend as much or as little time in a Sector as they want. When they're ready to venture deeper, whoever leads the way rolls for the Travel Action.

The Fracture Opening

This is the first sector of the expedition experiences. At 1,300 kilometers long, it covers the distance between New York City to Miami, Florida. London, England to Naples, Italy. Melbourne, Australia to Alice Springs. Buenos Aires, Argentina to São Paulo, Brazil. It is massive. Where did the fracture open in your game? What exists teetering at its cliff walls? The world at the surface is a hellscape of the apocalypse, and much of the Fracture Opening is littered with crumbling buildings, detritus, and ancillary debris of civilization. Oceans spilling over the edge seem small in scale. Sitting suspended over it, is the Fracture Observatory. The Fracture Observatory, the home of Mission Control.

Furthest from the anomaly, this sector is rooted most in the reality of the surface. Here, players may find groups of survivors from the cities that tumbled into the great fracture, steam vents, cave ins, and earthquakes make finding solid footing and a reliable path difficult, and even here, strange subterranean creatures may make an appearance. Old research stations, part of the Substratum Protocol's monitoring efforts may still be intact here, and dangerous fast flowing waters threaten to whisk away scientists into massive whirlpools to further below. When we were first designing Substratum Protocol, the thought was that players would start in the action of the expedition and wouldn't really spend time on the Fracture Observatory or on the surface. The Fracture Opening was our way of showing what the surface was going through while still being en route. It is meant to showcase the incredible destruction happening, and give the players a sense of urgency to stop it from getting worse. How do the scientists descend into the fracture before being left to their own power? Lowered on a cable lift? Paraglide down? Or perhaps they are more like hell jumpers, free-falling through the gargantuan opening (or Link entering the depths in Tears of the Kingdom!)?

The title screen fades to klaxon alarms and screams of the world above, slowly giving way to a deafening silence of rushing wind as the expedition descends past the cliff walls into the abyssal black depths of the Fracture Opening...

Join the Expedition!

[carionto]

Whoever said "Fear is an illusion" was wrong

After receiving Joannie du'Preeste's report, the Governing Body was understandably concerned. Cooler heads reassured everyone that, until further analysis and a much more thorough scan of the entire interior of the planet is made, we should not jump to ludicrous conclusions. There is an unknown structure beneath the surface of the Earth that resembles a massive biological entity and it could just be a peculiar formation that our brains in their typical fashion interpret as such.

Then we did do a full scan of the planet and isolated the relevant layers and material compositions and

HOLY FUCKING SHIT IT'S CTHULU

Okay, don't panic, everyone. I SAID DON'T PANIC!

How did H.P. Lovecraft know?

*Breathe in, breathe out*

We're not losing our sanity, right? But how would we know...

Stop that, not productive, think rationally.

How? It's a literally planet sized eldritch creature in a sorta fetal position and we can't agree on basic details!

I'm veering on the side of it defies understanding. Even the computers give different answers every time we ask how many arms it has, which, obviously, doesn't make any sense. Plus each of us hear different answers as well, so let's be smart and not try to understand it specifically, but address the potential consequences of its existence instead.

Well, obviously we can't tell anyone else.

We should discreetly inquire if any of the aliens have made similar findings though. Maybe this is no big deal.

YES. Please, I need that to be true.

Hopefully, but we need to prepare in case this is unique. It's position may indicate it is sleeping, whatever that may mean for a god-being.

The report said earlier scans showed weaker consolidation of the structure. I think it is reasonable to assume the explosion that created the Pacific Abyss and the subsequent expulsion and shifting of magma is a contributing factor.

Wait. Don't tell me we are waking it up?

Oh MY GOD!!! I'm panicking!

Hmm, what if other gods and the like are real too?

That is plausible, assuming this is an entity with supernatural powers. We only have anecdotal evidence of passive perception manipulation. I would hope the alien species of the Coalition have withheld certain secrets from us. If not, we will need to strategically share this discovery and manipulate a number of experts to perform innocuous activities that would indirectly examine and test various hypotheses.

If it's become somewhat observable because of that explosion, what's gonna happen when we can no longer maintain Earth's structural integrity and it fully collapses in, what was it, 95 years?

.....

I'M PANICKING!

[llamagoddessofficial]

E-eldritch Sans au? oh... oh no. Please go on. What does the "blue eyed one" want? and of course there is a skull somewhere in their ranks? what happens when He sees her too?

Sans, the 'blue-eyed one': He wants her just as much as the others do. They all love her in the closest approximation to love they can feel. Rather than try to appear humanoid to her and risk falling into the uncanny valley, like Red often does, Sans takes the route of being completely otherworldly in a clean and easily comprehensible manner. His body resembles a dark fluid, fluctuating in viscosity and shape, eyes and mouths opening across him when required (although he tends to stick to just one mouth to ease the scare factor). He might take a form resembling the small skeleton we all know if she seems particularly nervous... he’s very kind, very careful with her, talking softly and offering to shelter.

Unfortunately, he hates other humans. He wants nothing to do with her friends, he’d kill them if the opportunity arose, he despises having to share her with these noisy dirty meatbags. He makes it very clear from the start that he only assists her friends if she asks, and purely to make her happy... he understands that her mind doesn’t work as his does and she needs her little pack bonds to stay sane, but he’s still clearly vying for a way to get rid of them. She finds it difficult to trust him.

Red, the 'red-eyed one': If Sans is cold and blue and otherworldly... Red is crimson, blood and bones and sinew, almost too close to home. Sometimes his presence is comforting because it reminds her of the warmth of flesh & other human beings, and sometimes it’s deeply and viscerally disturbing, twisting something she knows into an unnatural shape that makes her stomach turn and vividly reminds her that this is a higher being playing around with a smaller creature’s physical form purely for entertainment. Unlike Sans, he’s a lot more tolerating of her surviving friends- although it’s obvious he’s got eyes (MANY eyes) for her, he enjoys her human companions too, he’ll joke with/protect them without her having to prompt him.

Much like Forest God Red, it slowly becomes clear that Red’s imitation of humanoid mannerisms and shapes isn’t entirely for her benefit. He harbours some envy for the species that knits its family units together so tightly- he wants to be human.

Skull, the 'thing that wants': A massive creature following her across the landscape like a needy dog after one chance meeting in the open. All the eldritch beings are huge, but Skull is the only one who struggles to shrink himself, far too ancient and powerful to access those fine shapeshifting motor functions anymore.

He loves her in a frightening, consuming, eldritch way. He wants to know her inside and out, he wants to touch her consciousness, he wants to explore every inch of her brain, he wants to absorb her Soul and trap her tiny body in his own. Maybe he wants to hold her? Maybe he wants to eat her? It’s hard to tell anymore, with a creature like him. He’ll hunt for a thousand years if he has to.

[sorcerrorsdragons]

Sorcererwing Mascots

Hi! I’ve been working on a fan flight for a little bit and I’m excited to share the mascots! I wanted to get them developed so I could shape the species around them

Each of them represent a different sub type, Luna is Lunar, Stellae is Stellar, and Elderon is Eldritch!

The base is one I made for myself

If anyone is interested in the species I am hoping to do early access soon-ish, myself and a few staff members are working on getting things good to go before then!

[thefirstknife]

With everything coming to a head, been going back and looking around for any unresolved threads. While I doubt that Bungie planted the seeds so far in advance, the Lost Prophecies on the guns from Curse of Osiris are starting to sound...clearer(though prophecies are always vague enough to have multiple interpretations). Even just the first one sounds a little /too/ clear to be pure happenstance

"Two siblings cleaved by time and space, reflections never found alone, The ending of the eldritch race—a path long seen but never known."

Oh yeah, I mentioned that same thing the moment we heard that message from Ahsa! It instantly reminded me of that prophecy. And the prophecy is called "Garden Progeny." Mentioned it here when I tried figuring out what Ahsa's messages might be about! (guessed correctly) That line was actually what motivated me to look a bit more closely into it.

Two last prophecies to re-examine, Null Calamity 9:

A sacred eye that speaks in lies—upending futures in its path. The way before us to the skies shall see itself in ancient wrath.

And Future Safe 10:

See who's robed as if a god, who stands with pride above the rest! Destroy this ancient nameless fraud! Destroy the one whose death was blessed!

As you said, it's highly unlikely that they planned this so far back in this specific detail, but they could always go back and pull some of this stuff and frame new things in a way that could fit. Either way, it's an interesting look back to some of the old stuff that was left unresolved.

Both of these can somehow fit what we know now. The Witness speaks in lies and is upending futures in its path. It is most known for its rage aka wrath and it's the thing that stands between us and the "skies" (in a lot of different ways; we can't leave the system because of it or a more metaphorical meaning of the Sky capitalised aka the Traveler). Fits also "robed as if a god" as the Witness was created by merging a whole species in an attempt to become more and enact its will into the universe, thinking it can better shape existence. Despite it being called "the Witness" that not its actual name; in truth we have no idea what these individuals were called or even what their species was called or their planet. It is nameless. And in a way, its death was "blessed" as they died to merge into this entity, becoming more than they were before by sacrificing their bodies.

It fits in a really neat way, but that's the way of prophecies; a lot of things can fit if you look back at them with hindsight. In truth, a lot of things can fit here if we want them to. The lore tab for Future Safe 10 actually has a thing to say about prophecies:

Prophecies are tricky things: they change the future they foretell. When a seer shares their knowledge of a coming event—any event, whether good or ill—there will always be those who gather to prevent it. Say too little and your meaning is lost. Say too much and you have made the task of your enemies easier.

Thank you Osiris, you're so right bestie.

[lensman-arms-race]

*CRAWLS INTO YOUR INBOX LIKE I AM HOLDING CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION* LENS. I HAD A DREAM AND I WANNA SHARE IT WITH YA. Okay, it's not directly affiliated with Skibidi Toilet...BUT!

I had a dream where a human was transported/summoned into a primarily robot populated world. These robots have no concept of flesh or organic bits, as they are made from electricity and metal, but they have lifeforces of their own. They think the human is completely alien and like an eldritch horror in a small way, to which they are, and their world of understanding is compromised. Like, they live in a metal/robotic world with metal trees, robotic lifeforms, ect. The human sticks out like a major sore thumb and is pretty much at the mercy of these curious robots that called them to their world to care for their very organic needs. In return, they have to endure tests, sample taking, and other things as they are explored by their curious captors. The human doesn't come to harm, as they are far too precious to destroy (as the human isn't really threatening nor hostile), so they are given caretakers to make sure the human is living comfortably enough. These robot people can be object heads, legit robots, and AI's. There's quite a variety to their appearances. I won't know what the end goal of this dream was, but the human was given a habitat to live in and was treated as a major lab secret, as the robot staff members try to understand the ways of flesh and bones of the being they pulled from another plane of existence via their confidential lab experiment. The head of the lab team was even a TV unit looking robot, with multiple arms and screens all jutting out from their sides. It was like Polycephaly...but not?

SORRY FOR DROPPING THIS IN YOUR INBOX, BUT I JUST WANTED TO TELL YOU!

Hell yeah!

This is reminding me a little of Alan Dean Foster's Humanx novels, which I haven't read but I totally should become the concept is so good! The humans meet an alien civilisation called the Thranx, who are human-sized bug people. Each civilisation is amazed at the existence of the other: the humans' calculations determined that an arthropod couldn't exist at that size because its exoskeleton would collapse, and the Thranx's calculations showed that an endoskeletal creature couldn't exist at that size because its flesh would fall off its bones! The two species become pals and form a society collectively called the Humanx. It sounds as though the robots in the dream are baffled that a creature made of meat could even exist!

Actually, this is also reminding me of Robots the Dreamworks movie. Everything is robots down to the wildlife! :D