Sunday, October 16, 2022

The Carnel Appetites of The Followers of Death God - - Lamentations of the Flame Princess & White Box : Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game by Seattle Hill Games - More OSR Ghoulish Campaign Commentary

 "Mordiggian...was a benign deity in the eyes of the inhabitants of Zul-Bha-Sair. A colossal shadow appeared that was not wrought by anything in the room. It filled the portals from side to side, it towered above the lintel – and then, swiftly, it became more than a shadow: it was a bulk of darkness, black and opaque, that somehow blinded the eyes with a strange dazzlement. It seemed to suck the flame from the red urns and fill the chamber with a chill of utter death and voidness. Its form was that of a worm-shapen column, huge as a dragon, its further coils still issuing from the gloom of the corridor; but it changed from moment to moment, swirling and spinning as if alive with the vortical energies of dark aeons. Briefly it took the semblance of some demoniac giant with eyeless head and limbless body; and then, leaping and spreading like smoky fire, it swept into the chamber."
The Carnel God Clark Ashton Smith 

So let's pick it right up from where we last left off here.  The silver masks of  Mordiggiel, are found in the far flung areas of Medieval Europe. The silvery masks of the the Clergy of Mordiggiel have been changed by their association of the Lovecraftian god of death. And where pray tell is all of this information coming from?! Black Box Books -- Tome Three: Cannibals and Confusion By Kirt A. Dankmyer



And these silvery masked bastards are taking on any & all comers down to their realms. And where are these realms besides the four corners of the globe?! They happen to be below the streets of Paris in the Catacombs.  And according to the wiki entry these date back to the time of the Romans but for our purposes they date way further into the past possibly even pre Biblical Flood; "Paris' earliest burial grounds were to the southern outskirts of the Roman-era Left Bank city. In ruins after the Western Roman Empire's 5th-century end and the ensuing Frankish invasions, Parisians eventually abandoned this settlement for the marshy Right Bank: from the 4th century, the first known settlement there was on higher ground around a Saint-Etienne church and burial ground (behind the present Hôtel de Ville), and urban expansion on the Right Bank began in earnest after other ecclesiastical landowners filled in the marshlands from the late 10th century. Thus, instead of burying its dead away from inhabited areas as usual, the Paris Right Bank settlement began with cemeteries near its centre." 
And this ties right into White Box : Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game because of the style of ghouls that it presents; "Armor Class: 6 [13] Hit Dice: 2 Attacks: Claw Special: See below Move: 9 HDE/XP: 3/60 Ghouls are pack-hunting undead, corpse eaters. They are immune, like most undead, to charms and sleep spells. The most dangerous feature of these horrid, cunning creatures is their paralyzing touch: any hit from a ghoul requires a saving throw or the victim becomes paralyzed for 3d6 turns." 
These are the classic Lovecraftian ghouls who have never left Europe, lost faith in Mordiggiel nor stopped breeding with the locals all around Europe. Where did they first come from?! What if they've always been beside us to begin with?! 
According to the Wiki entry on Ghouls; "In Arabic folklore, the ghul is said to dwell in cemeteries and other uninhabited places. A male ghoul is referred to as ghul while the female is called ghulah.[6] A source[who?] identified the Arabic ghoul as a female creature who is sometimes called Mother Ghoul (ʾUmm Ghulah) or a relational term such as Aunt Ghoul.[7] She is portrayed in many tales luring hapless characters, who are usually men, into her home where she can eat them.[7]



Some state[who?] that a ghoul is a desert-dwelling, shapeshifting demon that can assume the guise of an animal, especially a hyena. It lures unwary people into the desert wastes or abandoned places to slay and devour them. The creature also preys on young children, drinks blood, steals coins, and eats the dead,[8] then taking the form of the person most recently eaten. One of the narratives identified a ghoul named Ghul-e Biyaban, a particularly monstrous character believed to be inhabiting the wilderness of Afghanistan and Iran." 

So basically the race of ghouls are a type of genii that has evolved next to us this whole time.But what if that's not entirely the whole story?! What if the fact that Elves are immune to the paralizying touch of a ghoul offers a lot more insight into their origins?! 
If we go back in time to the mythology of Elves  then there's the point of contact; "
The word elf is found throughout the Germanic languages and seems originally to have meant 'white being'. However, reconstructing the early concept of an elf depends largely on texts written by Christians, in Old and Middle English, medieval German, and Old Norse. These associate elves variously with the gods of Norse mythology, with causing illness, with magic, and with beauty and seduction.

After the medieval period, the word elf tended to become less common throughout the Germanic languages, losing out to alternative native terms like Zwerg ('dwarf') in German and huldra ('hidden being') in North Germanic languages, and to loan-words like fairy (borrowed from French into most of the Germanic languages). Still, beliefs in elves persisted in the early modern period, particularly in Scotland and Scandinavia, where elves were thought of as magically powerful people living, usually invisibly, alongside everyday human communities. They continued to be associated with causing illnesses and with sexual threats. For example, several early modern ballads in the British Isles and Scandinavia, originating in the medieval period, describe elves attempting to seduce or abduct human characters." 

And it's this point where things get very interesting because a lot of the same characteristics of Elves & Ghouls intersect. In Lamentations of the Flame Princess rpg the Elven race is literally ' the other'. And what does this have to do with the Clergy of Mordiggiel?! Everything because literally Elves were split off from the projenitor race in PreBiblical  Flood times. And Dark Albion's Cults of Chaos goes deeply into this. 




The Elves of Dark Albion or mythology created the OGL Elves to serve as chattle for their appetites and to serve them. Below them were mankind or at least it was for awhile until the Biblical Floods wiped them both back to beyond the pale of the material plane. 
The Ghoul tribes were another matter entirely. They fled to the corners of the dreamlands & dark underworld Fey realms. These served as way points created by their god  Mordiggiel,or so it told them. In point of fact it was the essence of the god  Mordiggiel, that was used to further corrupt the Elven race. 
So while their better at well everything then you. The Elven race is also full of that rich life energy that the true Elves crave.  Mordiggiel cult still flourishes because mankind carves it's into the ghouls image. 




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