Friday, December 4, 2020

The First and Last Dynasty of Mu

Dandibuja

 

I don't think it's a terribly contentious opinion that attempts to turn the Lovecraft Mythos into a Theogony-styled family tree are immensely dumb and undermine the entire damn point of the exercise.

This means, of course, that I am compelled by an unseen force to make a post remixing that very concept, because I am an idiot who deals in idiot ideas.

Because, you see, nonsensical tangled family trees are terrible for cosmic horrors, but really good for debauched nobility, and who doesn't love some debauched nobility for villains.

Family Line of the First and Last Dynasty of Mu

Diagrams.net saves the day yet again

Aza

Ancient and decrepit god-king of Mu. Blind, deaf, and trapped within his own decaying mind. In his waking hours he must constantly be attended by flutists and drummers playing soothing songs, and at night he thrashes around wildly in the grip of his nightmares.

The Dawn Queen

The left-hand wife, who wears the robe and veil of argent. She has not spoken since Aza blinded himself and has refused to sit at his side in court since then.

The Dusk Queen

The right-hand wife, who wears the robe and veil of fuligin. She tends to Aza in his ravings, making sure he does not injure himself, and is always seen at his side in court.

Sothoth

Has taken up the role of the ruler of Mu - regardless of what the Bastard claims Aza's wishes are. A cold and distant man, who would much rather let others do the job of ruling Mu while he simply holds the title. Consumed with his studies of astronomy and astrology, caring nothing for law, war, taxes or infrastructure. Rumored to have sired a son with a smallfolk sorceress.

Shurath

The queen-mother of Mu, upon whom much of the practical matters must fall. She loathes every moment of it, loathes her husband, her father, her children, the rest of the court all in turn. These emotions are repressed, as so much is, beneath a veneer of either quiet reservation or doting maternalism. When it leaks out, it is in moments of incredible cruelty.

The Bastard

The vizier of Aza, who interprets his mumblings and ramblings into decrees. He is hated by all, for he takes clear delight in undermining their schemes and foiling their desires. Most of the others think him to be a charlatan, a bastard son of Aza's born of some unknown woman. He has remained in the court purely out of the fear that the claims he makes of Aza's favor are true.

Hastur

An ambassador from the distant court of Carcosa, on behalf of the King in Yellow. He remains distant from court affairs, appearing only for diplomatic matters and occasional trysts with Shurath. He remains as an alien in Mu, performing the customs of his distant home even after all this time.

Itha

A viscous, cold-hearted cannibal, whose greatest pleasure in life is to pluck smallfolk from their homes and cast them into the wilderness for him to hunt and devour them. He cares absolutely nothing for the court, nor has shown any desire to seize his Carcosan birthright.

The Blasphemers 

Precisely who these individuals are, if they are indeed two separate persons or if they exist at all, is an elusive truth. Their existence is surmised by its absence -  a string of violent removals of someone from court records - all statues destroyed, all cartouches chiselled out, all engravings defaced. They are referred to as the twins Yeg and Nub (or Yegnub), but this merely means something cast aside or a piece of trash. Their place in the family tree is heavily debated.

Tulu

Heirophant of Mu, who leads in the worship of the Eyeless Sun and its scion the god-king. An ambitious man with enormous ego, and the only one of the court to interact at all with the world outside the palace. The smallfolk of Mu know and recognize Tulu - Aza and his wives and children are vague and far away. He is obsessed with dreams and their influence on art, and spends freely from the coffers to sponsor artisans who can bring form to his visions.

Kasso

Vanished primary wife and sister of Tulu. Was sickly and rarely seen in public or at court.

Tosa and Tolhu

Twin daughters of Tulu and Kasso, who were locked in the Red Prison and whose names were stricken from the record for crimes unuttered. They were quite rebellious in their time at court, respecting no individual nor tradition.

Idya

Secondary wife of Tulu, of whose history very little is known. Rumors abound.

Ghatan, Thoga, Zotho, and Thyll

Three sons and a daughter of Tulu and Idya They are, to the last, ambitious but untested, and have yet been able to amass the resources, power, or plans to do anything truly radical, yet. But soon. Soon.

  • Ghatan was disfigured in a duel. The smallfolk consider his gaze to be lethal.
  • Thoga is enormous, bearded, and one-eyed.
  • Zotho is...I've got nothing. I literally have nothing for this dull, dull motherfucker.
  • Thyll is beloved of Tulu and has been taught in secret rites to assist him in usurpation of Sothoth once Aza finally dies.


9 comments:

  1. "Yeah! There's this big monster that's Cthulhu's cousin! What do you mean I have to have some kind of detail or narrative purpose to them?" - A Mythos Author, Definitely.

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  2. This is the natural conclusion of the "Cthulhu Mythos" and the abominable legacy of August Derleth. This is fun though. August Derleth ain't all that still.

    "This means, of course, that I am compelled by an unseen force to make a post remixing that very concept, because I am an idiot who deals in idiot ideas."

    Here's this for an opinion: self-deprecation is illegal now. Can't do it anymore.

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    1. "Because I am a big brain genius who fixes bad things like some kind of alchemist"

      Honestly Derleth barely came up when I was reading through the material behind this. HPL came up with the family tree in the first place, and the super guilty parties afterwards were Aston Clark Smith and Lin Carter and other, small namers.

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  3. Ironically enough I still can make good use of the mythos family trees, mainly because my players have little to no knowledge of lovecraft mythos outside of Big Thulu. The more the explanations are actually given the less effective the whole thing is, but knowing, say, "this creature in the form of a stranger is an agent, a decivee, something working on behalf of something much, much bigger and more alien" is much more interesting then "Narlyothep is the Herald of Azathoth."

    I do envy some of the names in the mythos as well- it can be hard to come up with something with the same punch as HASTUR or YOG SOGGOTH. They just flow nicely off the tounge in a weird squamous way.

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  4. I thought of a blurb for Zotho, based on a Delta Green scenario a friend once ran:

    "Zotho has been confined to his chambers since slighting his father years ago. The statuary he produces in apology is beautiful; too beautiful for Tulu to ever release him."

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  5. I've updated the post with some excellent art by Dandibuja!

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  6. Besides looking cool, Tulu's robes hide his somewhat bloated corpulence. :)

    A fun concept! I'm not quite sure who the dusk and dawn Queens are supposed to stand for?

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    Replies
    1. In certain letters of HPLs he has a pair of entities just as "The Nameless Mist" and "Darkness", they got turned into the Queens

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