#mhar

As the deities that are most physically tied to the Material Plane, it is perhaps unsurprising that the various entities collected together as “Outer Gods” and “Great Old Ones” have been paying attention to the Great Game. The allegiances of some of the prominent members of these pantheons are as follows:

Abhoth The Unclean God is patron of disease and fecundity, and knows how these two things are tied together. More are born than can survive, and many of those that die fall to disease before anything else. As such, Abhoth is well versed in ecology, and knows that Lamashtu is overpopulating Golarion with her monsters. Abhoth’s followers seek to spread plagues among monstrous species in order to keep their numbers down, and as such, Mormo counts Abhoth as an ally.

Azathoth The Primal Chaos does not seem to have noticed the Great Game, or much of anything that has happened on Golarion in centuries. This is probably for the best. If any of his attention were to be turned onto the conflict, it could easily become a disaster for both parties…something that Nyarlathotep is hoping for, and working to make happen.

Bokrug The Water Lizard fondly remembers Mormo from before the evolution of true mammals, and they have hunted and sparred together and even mated in the past. Bokrug may be difficult to rouse from his slumber, but his ire is terrible when provoked, and is likely to be directed at the followers of Lamashtu.

Cthulhu The Dreamer in the Deep has dreamt of Golarion, and one or two of his star-spawn have come there. But he cares not for the Great Game; he has his own stars that need to be right once again. A star-spawn of Cthulhu is a dangerous agent of its own right, and one more likely to support Lamashtu than Mormo.

Hastur The King in Yellow respects Lamashtu and her ravenous appetites. Although he has his own plans to absorb chunks of Golarion, or the whole world if he can, into the Nightmare Kingdom of Carcosa, he is at least nominally on the Mother of Monster’s side. As long as their cultists can keep sharing the same sybaritic festivities.

Ithaqua Ithaqua is more concerned with consuming anyone on either side that he can sink his talons into. The Wind Walker is slightly more favorably minded towards Lamashtu than Mormo, but any relationship between their cults is likely to be a tenuous one that could break down into ravenous hunger at any point.

Mhar Mhar wants off of Golarion. He sees a change in the status quo as the best way of achieving that goal, and is resentful of lamia clerics of Lamashtu for helping Karzoug the Runelord to build a palace on his surface and deface him. Mhar’s release would likely be devastating for Mormo’s goals of making Golarion a richer and more diverse ecosystem. But on the other hand, volcanic ash and lava rock makes for excellent fertilizer, and his eruption might not be as destructive as he hopes it will be.

Nhimbaloth As a devourer of souls and a corrupter of wild things, Nhimbaloth is an ally of Lamashtu. Of course, she does respect Mormo’s goals of eating Lamashtu as a fellow apex predator. But Nhimbaloth thinks that the Goddess of Predators is too arrogant and needs to be taken down a peg. Nhimbaloth would happily eat Mormo herself if given half a chance, and for that reason, Mormo keeps a wide berth of Nhimbaloth’s home world, Voidbracken.

Nyarlathotep The Crawling Chaos is delighted by this galaxy spanning conflict, and on the surface is playing both sides. Lamashtu is his real dog in the fight, as he views Lamashtu as being more likely to lead Golarion to ruin, cracking open and releasing Rovagug. That would be a fun show to watch, seeing how the Rough Beast would react after eons of imprisonment. The Mask of Nyarlathotep that is most actively involved is the Black Pharaoh, whose cults are pushing technological advances into the hands of demon cultists and dangerous maneaters.

Orgesh The Faceless God is technically on Lamashtu’s side, although not by any direct aiding or abetting. Orgesh wants to fight Mormo himself. And is sending his chardra to pick fights with her worshipers, and is gunning for her most powerful servitors himself, in the hopes of getting Mormo’s attention. Worst case scenario, Orgesh will be killed and be able to respawn on another planet. Unless Mormo gets sick of his interference, and starts doing research on a way to kill him for real before setting her sights higher.

Shub-Nugganoth* The Goat of the Woods views Lamashtu as a kindred spirit, and the two of them have indeed collaborated on the spawning of horrors in the past. They are doing so again, notably through the personage of one of the Goat’s most powerful mortal worshipers in Avistan, a fleshwarping-obsessed alchemist named Doctor Agatha Shiny. Doctor Shiny and her creations are actively hunting down Mormo’s allies in order to transform them into blasphemous horrors, or just murder them.

Tsathoggua Saint Toad knows what it’s like to be forgotten and abandoned. He is a supporter of Mormo, if only because she’s the underdog in this fight, and Tsathoggua has a soft spot for underdogs, as much as he would deny that. Mormo knows that the Father of Night is a fickle and somewhat dangerous ally, so doesn’t rely on his help, but does appreciate his guidance and wisdom.

Yig The Father of Serpents calls Mormo “sister”, and the Goddess of Predators calls Yig “brother” in return. This may be an actual genealogical relationship, it may not be. But Yig is among Mormo’s closest allies, and the two are active collaborators. Those colonies of serpentfolk who worship Yig are hotspots for burgeoning cults of Mormo, as they see the two ophidian Old Ones as a way to reclaim some of the lost glory of the Age of Serpents without relying on the increasingly unstable Ydersius.

Yog-Sothoth The Key and the Gate views things on a vast, cosmic scale, even more than the other Outer Gods. As such, the safety and long term stability of the galaxy is his highest priority (after all, it has to collide with another galaxy in approximately 1.2 billion years, and then enough of it has to be around to decay into degenerate matter as the universe shifts past its stelliferous era. So anything that dramatically accelerates that process, or might get large portions of the galaxy pulled out of the Material Plane altogether, are not ideal outcomes for Yog-Sothoth. As such, he supports Mormo, but is doing so in a subtle way—opening portals in the right places, weakening planar boundaries—rather than sending his children to fight en masse.

Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.

-Mhar loves the garden. It’s in the center of his temple and is perpetually full of lush grass, dozens of flowers, and birds. It constantly smells like nectar and there’s a spring in the middle where the servants draw water. He’ll take walks there and the servants love to spend their time there, singing or doing busywork in the sun. He’ll often go there and even sit with the servants on occasion, listening to them chatter happily amongst themselves.

-If he notices something is bothering one of the servants, he will often send them on errands out of the temple into the villages (he knows they all love that) or maybe just ask them to take a walk with him so he can prod them gently about what’s on their mind.

-Fun fact, because Mhar is a god incarnate, he is technically a pharaoh and validly holds that title. 

-He LOVES animals. One of his favorite things to do is watch the birds in the garden. Catch him out there like Disney princess holding them in his very gentle hands.

-Mhar also loves to tease Nenet. It’s one of his favorite things, because she’s so jumpy and clumsy and nervous all the time. Most of the servants keep to themselves, but she’s so fascinated with him he’ll often catch her following him or purposefully putting herself in his way. He’ll often “give her a hard time” good-naturedly over a broken pot or forgotten unfinished task, just to watch her stutter for an excuse. Maybe it’s because he also wants a reason to spend more time with HER…

-Despite teasing Nenet, they also have a lot of times where they’ll joke together or have very light, fun conversations. Obviously later when they grow closer this happens more often.

-Mhar wanted to make Nenet his queen right before she died, and was seriously considering giving her immortality despite the obvious reasons not to.

-Mhar is very good with children !! So good !! The children wouldn’t dare pet him in his cat state (cats were holy in ancient Egypt) but he still will spend time with them when he’s in villages visiting, if he can.

-He’s also always wanted a human child of his own.

-He only shows his face to the servants and occupants of the temple. Otherwise he wears his mask. Even then, the servants will try not to make eye contact, but mostly because his eyes are so intense: not in an angry way, but just in a powerful way. In truth he has very kind, gentle features, and his smile is like a warm hug.

-Mhar’s morning routine consists of “waking up” very early (he doesn’t really sleep, meditation is a better word for it) and taking a walk outside of the temple to take time by himself (maybe he’ll go for a swim, or visit a secluded part of the area) until food has been prepared for him. He’s actually kind of a loner, and you’ll find him keeping to himself or going off to be alone a lot.

-Mhar doesn’t give hugs often, but he actually really loves hugging. And a hug from Mhar is…. literally the best feeling in the world.

-When Mhar laughs his eyes crinkle up and he’ll laugh through his nose a little first but then he’ll tilt his head back and laugh louder and it’s incredibly contagious.

4. Best places to kiss on their body - Mhar loves any kind of physical affection, but his favorite is when someone peppers him with soft but fervent kisses that trail his body, like up his arm or down his chest. 

5. Guilty pleasures - Mhar has a really bad habit of teasing people simply because he can. He really enjoys making people feel flustered or speechless. Aside from that, he really likes when the servants get him all pretty to receive sacrifices. He likes feeling pretty. :3

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Mhar paused down the dim, moonlit hallway, turning his head slightly toward one of the shadowed overhangs. His aura glinted gold against the stone, but he did not need it to know that Nenet was cowering in the shadows behind one of the temple pillars. 

“If you think I cannot see you,” he said, “than your knowledge of me is tragically misguided.”

He waited, a few more moments, but she didn’t stir. He could hear her quick, fearful breaths only growing more staggered as he stood there.

Annoyance flashed in his eyes and he turned fully toward her with a heavy exhale. “You try my patience, Nenet.”