Posted by deathknight4044  10/02/2021 5:35 am | #1 |
I'm currently running a campaign and mapping out a loose outline for how it may conclude. The idea in mind is that ancient mutated hyperboreans dwelling in an under city beneath Alus Mercury seek to raise Kraken, with their main goal to return to the past before the ashen worms arrival. The reason for choosing Kraken is that one of the forces associated with him is time travel. So far so good.
One thing that sticks out to me is that cuthulus cult has a presence throughout several of the players adventures. Most likely they will associate the two gods as being connected given that there's some overlapping aspects. Which got me wondering- does anyone here have some ideas on how they handle the two gods? Do you differentiate them or link them as both being great old ones?
Looking through the text it seems that Kraken dosent actually have a strong association with the ocean or bodies of water like cuthulu does, and instead seems to mainly be about crossing dimensions. In my mind adventures featuring deep ones and fish men are more in line with cuthulu, while outer planar creatures are more in line with Kraken. I also associate madness and eldritch knowledge with cuthulu while Kraken seems like a destructive force of nature. If anyone has some other ideas on how to distinguish the two gods and their cults id love to hear them.
Last edited by deathknight4044 (10/02/2021 5:50 am)
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Posted by Blackadder23 10/02/2021 11:59 pm | #2 |
I would point out a couple of things. Firstly, Kthulhu isn't really a marine entity or sea god either. The text says he is associated with "sorcery, necromancy, deviltry, witchcræft, nightmares, madness, exhilaration, destruction, and havoc". Nothing particularly oceanic there. He is currently trapped beneath the sea, and he has marine servants due to his influence being concentrated there, but these associations with oceanic matters are just an accident of the current moment. The idea that Kthulhu is some kind of water elemental originated with Derleth's cockeyed pseudo-Catholic reinterpretation of the Lovecraftian mythos, His true environment, once freed, is the dark between the stars.
Secondly, the associations of Kraken are interesting: "extra-planar travel, outré dimensions, cosmic hunger, energy absorption, human sacrifice, time travel, illusion, duality, and reincarnation". One of these is especially interesting - why "duality" in particular? Now it's well known that Kthulhu exists in more than one dimension, which renders him impervious to physical destruction in our dimension (as memorably portrayed in "The Call of Cthulhu"). What if Kraken is that extradimensional manifestation of Kthulhu? That is to say, what if the two squid gods are simply two faces of the same Janus-like entity? Kthulhu could even be seen as the "body" of this ultramundane entity, currently imprisoned beneath the sea, while Kraken is the "soul", currently locked away in another dimension. Could they ever reunite:? Do they even want to reunite? Interesting questions to contemplate in the dark...
Or maybe there really are just two somewhat similar squid gods. That's cool too. 
Last edited by Blackadder23 (10/02/2021 11:59 pm)
Michael Sipe 1979-2018
Rest in peace, brother.
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Posted by DMPrata 10/31/2021 10:29 am | #3 |
Blackadder23 wrote:
I would point out a couple of things. Firstly, Kthulhu isn't really a marine entity or sea god either. The text says he is associated with "sorcery, necromancy, deviltry, witchcræft, nightmares, madness, exhilaration, destruction, and havoc". Nothing particularly oceanic there. He is currently trapped beneath the sea, and he has marine servants due to his influence being concentrated there, but these associations with oceanic matters are just an accident of the current moment. The idea that Kthulhu is some kind of water elemental originated with Derleth's cockeyed pseudo-Catholic reinterpretation of the Lovecraftian mythos, His true environment, once freed, is the dark between the stars.
Secondly, the associations of Kraken are interesting: "extra-planar travel, outré dimensions, cosmic hunger, energy absorption, human sacrifice, time travel, illusion, duality, and reincarnation". One of these is especially interesting - why "duality" in particular? Now it's well known that Kthulhu exists in more than one dimension, which renders him impervious to physical destruction in our dimension (as memorably portrayed in "The Call of Cthulhu"). What if Kraken is that extradimensional manifestation of Kthulhu? That is to say, what if the two squid gods are simply two faces of the same Janus-like entity? Kthulhu could even be seen as the "body" of this ultramundane entity, currently imprisoned beneath the sea, while Kraken is the "soul", currently locked away in another dimension. Could they ever reunite:? Do they even want to reunite? Interesting questions to contemplate in the dark...
Or maybe there really are just two somewhat similar squid gods. That's cool too.
Your post reminds me of a Cthulhu Now! adventure, “Dreams Dark and Deadly” (which I no longer own), that distinguishes betwixt the chorazin and eidolon of Cthulhu.
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Posted by Blackadder23 10/31/2021 1:41 pm | #4 |
I would point out a couple of things. Firstly, Kthulhu isn't really a marine entity or sea god either. The text says he is associated with "sorcery, necromancy, deviltry, witchcræft, nightmares, madness, exhilaration, destruction, and havoc". Nothing particularly oceanic there. He is currently trapped beneath the sea, and he has marine servants due to his influence being concentrated there, but these associations with oceanic matters are just an accident of the current moment. The idea that Kthulhu is some kind of water elemental originated with Derleth's cockeyed pseudo-Catholic reinterpretation of the Lovecraftian mythos, His true environment, once freed, is the dark between the stars.
Secondly, the associations of Kraken are interesting: "extra-planar travel, outré dimensions, cosmic hunger, energy absorption, human sacrifice, time travel, illusion, duality, and reincarnation". One of these is especially interesting - why "duality" in particular? Now it's well known that Kthulhu exists in more than one dimension, which renders him impervious to physical destruction in our dimension (as memorably portrayed in "The Call of Cthulhu"). What if Kraken is that extradimensional manifestation of Kthulhu? That is to say, what if the two squid gods are simply two faces of the same Janus-like entity? Kthulhu could even be seen as the "body" of this ultramundane entity, currently imprisoned beneath the sea, while Kraken is the "soul", currently locked away in another dimension. Could they ever reunite:? Do they even want to reunite? Interesting questions to contemplate in the dark...
Or maybe there really are just two somewhat similar squid gods. That's cool too.Your post reminds me of a Cthulhu Now! adventure, “Dreams Dark and Deadly” (which I no longer own), that distinguishes betwixt the chorazin and eidolon of Cthulhu.
I'll have to check that one out. I used to have almost all of the original CoC adventures, but I never had anything for Cthulhu Now! 
Michael Sipe 1979-2018
Rest in peace, brother.
