09 January 2013
Ryhassharauch - the Stillborn God
Bit of a flash post, this. The world is growing! I have unearthed a new Demiurge: Ryhassharauch - the stillborn.
The story of Ryhassharauch is one of bitterness and a hope extinguished before it could ever shine. This fell thing's life was cut short before it was even born. As its siblings indulged in the hubris of Elyden's Shaping, this palled, bulbous-headed grotesque was already rotting, the seven seeds of what would, had fate dealt it a decent hand, borne seven mortals - four women, three men - in Ryhassharauch's image.
Yet it was not to be, and as their stillborn father lies in state, its unborn dreams rotting the world. so too do the bodies of its children - fossilised and buried 'neath the chthonic earth before birth could ever bless them...
I was just sorting through some old notes and came across a throwaway thought I must have jotted down sometime (honestly cannot remember doing this) that says simply 'stillborn god - fetus-deity' . And that was that.
Now, is this a forgotten 23rd Demiurge, or do i remove one of the Two-and-Twenty (perhaps taking the least-developed one and merging it with one of the others. i like the latter idea more, as it means the imperfect Demiurge can be the 22nd one, meaning that its inclusion destroyed the perfect number (7 x 3 = 21 all seen as symbolic perfect numbers in many faiths, including the Church of the Machine) of Demiurges. Perhaps Ryhassharauch is inadvertently (or not) responsible for the hubris and eventual punishment of the Demiurges and the corruption of the world.
I also came across this little tidbit: '2-faced god/dichotomy/conjoined twins' nothing too original about a dichotomous god, though i though the image of a conjoined god/s just fit the world of Elyden pretty well. Oh ideas, why must you come to me so close to bed-time (and why must i wake up so damned early for work...)
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I feel your no-sleep pain, brother. I'm back to school and still working part time...and still scribbling ideas when I should be doing homework ;) What's a worldbuilder to do with several hours to kill in a library? Read?
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of a "dead" god wrecking the perfect numbers. But a Siamese twin god screams perfect fit for the number 22.
The odd one out breaking the perfection of the creative process... stillborn, yet dreaming. Creepy. Loving that there's always more to discover of Elyden.
ReplyDeleteSo, on to your question. Realmwright's got a good idea, and the Siamese twin god does fit. But, is Ryhassharauch a parasite, or a genuine undead/unborn monster? If Ryhassharauch is a parasite, I'd say run with the Siamese idea you've mentioned. Though, how you do run with it can vary. It could be the metaphysical "twin" or shadow of another Demiurge, somehow with enough integrity to subsist partially on its own, and then feed off of the world. If you went that route, might I suggest Rachanael? You've already established Rachanael as a potent, monstrous presence in the present age, tied to the powers of flesh and also machinery. So instead of a being that lives even though it should be dead/dying, and that survives through the power of it's inventiveness and industry, you've got it's dark twin, bound to it somehow, that though dead, is still able to somehow rot the world, devouring or corrupting Elyden in some way to further it's completely unnatural existence. It could also be one of the reasons Rachanael is kind of crazy, maybe?
If you wanted to go the other route of simply fusing this Demiurge with another one, how's about Nelchael? That guy's claim to fame is that he's always asleep... maybe because he's dead? Just make the dreamlessness more metaphorical (because how can they be called dreams when they change the world?)This way, you've already got the twin associations as well, as Nelchael is the twin of (the more active?) S'hith. And seeing as how S'hith is the master of prophecy, you could play off of the connotations there - one sees the future (I'm assuming?) and the other one is bound to the present, utterly devoid of the future, as it's dead.
welcome back Ish An :)
ReplyDeleteI think I decided on 22 demiurges with one of them (not necessarily the 22nd one), being Ryhassharauch and another, separate, one being the conjoined/dichotomous one (or two, depending on how you see it, technically making 23 anyway; though in 22 bodies).
I like the idea of adding something to Rachanael. he was locked away, imprisoned by Allaishada, until about 4000 years ago when his apostle and leader of the Korachani empire released him. Perhaps while imprisoned, a vestige of Ryhassharauch latched onto him, sucking his sanity, further polluting the world. Though I really do like the idea of a monolithic mummified foetus floating in the ether, its umbilical connecting to the world, spewing filth and nightmares into the mortal realm.
Problem is, which Demiurge to i get rid of to accommodate Ryhassharauch, and do I 1) take that Demiurge and add it to another one to create the 'Janus' god, or do I completely scrap that Demiurge and just come up with something new for the twin. I'm going to list the Demiurges and see what I think:
tbc (due to word limit)
continued due to word limit
ReplyDeleteAllaishada: ‘the Resplendent One’, one of two counterparts to Rachanael, and one I'd like to keep unaltered for now
Ashterath: ‘the Lord of Fang & Claw’, and Rachanael’s right-hand man. I have a distinct image for him and his children, so he’s not a good candidate
Duruthilhotep: ‘Pater of Light’ the second counterpart to Rachanael (the first user and advocate of the firmament), so he’s a pseudo mirror to Rachanael so I don’t want to tamper with him too much.
Talantehut: ‘the Shunned One’ she/it has quite a bit of background already established as a being entrusted with powers of judgement and maintaining balance (a duty she/it didn’t necessarily want). Could do something with this, though I’ll go through the others first
Synchthonith: ‘the Earthwright’. The shaper/priest. I have little established background on this Demiurge so could use her, though I’m not too sure how the dichotomous aspect can naturally fit. Maybe some research on earth deities and see if I can get something from it
Yaldabaoth: ‘the One and the Many’. Already has a background involving clones and despair at anonymity and death. Not sure he needs any more
Rachanael: ‘the Hungry’ he’s the centre of the ‘protagonist’ nation, so don’t want to alter him too much at this point, though there is room for minor alteration (like perhaps a parasitic entitiy…)
Urakabarameel: ‘the Wise’ father of the giants (giganri – the gnostic philosophers and brooding contemplators). Don’t think it fits in with his character to make him a conjoined twin.
Baphomet: ‘the Deceiver’ best epithet form a two-faced god, though I think I have evolved his back story to the point where he doesn't need the ‘baggage’ of being a conjoined twin.
Arimaspi: ‘the Noble Beast’ natural, feral, regal. No!
Neith: ‘daughter of the moon’ shares background with Kharani so there is already a link and dichotomy present. As moon deities, can they be conjoined?
Sybaris: ‘the Mother of Sin’
S'hith: ‘the Lord of Prophecy’ twin and enemy of Nelchael. Could be an advisor, whispering things into his sleeping brother’s ear, corrupting his thoughts. I think Ish An is onto something – though twins are a naturalchoice for this anyway
Nelchael: ‘the Dreamless Slumberer’ as above.
Nergaal: ‘Bringer of Sun and Rot’ Nergaal is already a dichotomous god – giving both life and death to man in the form of sun (feeding crops) and health, and drought and disease. I could develop that further – though would need to remove once of the deities in this list to accommodate the change.
Nyarloth: ‘the Great Artificer’ the Tesla/Leonardo of my deities, I don’t think I’m missing out on anything not making him the conjoined twin
Malachai: ‘the Barren One’ poor guy, has suffered the death of his tribe, and a slow lingering death ever after as the twisted broken remains of his children struggle to survive, their numbers little, their hope faded. He has enough to deal with
Avraham: ‘the Alabaster King’ father of man, this guy already has enough to put up with, with humans being his children. Let’s give him some peace
Kharani: ‘the Bloody-handed One’ could be twinned with Neith as a twisted conflicted moon deity – torn between the serenity of the white moon and the savagery of the red (kharani). A cyclical nature and ebbs and flows in conflicting emotions sound interesting but too restricted, in a way. I want the conjoined god to be more grotesque and broken, another maddened deity to add to the menagerie.
Achaiah: ‘the Silent Witness’ now a tree with an immortal mummified man ‘ Methuselah’ trapped inside her, Achaiah might be a candidate for the conjoined god, though more figurative than literal
Vorropohaiah: ‘the Broken One’ this guy has enough issues, he doesn't need this too
Shibboleth: ‘the Torrent’ possibly the least formed of the Demiurges in my head (perhaps fittingly, given her nature) I'm not sure she’s the right candidate
Ryhassharauch: ‘the Stillborn’ I wanted to keep this guy as his own thing as I think his hook ‘stillborn god’ is strong-enough to stand alone