#orgesh

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.

Creating Urban Fantasy: Orgesh

In my absence on Tumblr, I had an idea about creating a Urban Fantasy Punk ttrpg. And while I know Shadowrun is a thing, I wanted the fantasy races in this world to have a rich and complex history which Shadowrun doesn't have.

“Orgesh” © Paizo Publishing, by Miguel Regodon Harkness. Accessed at his ArtStation page here

[Commissioned by @tar-baphon. Orgesh is a Great Old One first mentioned before Pathfinder RPG even existed, having been developed for the back-matter of the Second Darkness AP. They got an illustration in Black Stars Beckon as a possible foe to be fought as a follow up to the Strange Aeons AP. And yet, they never got an official stat block.]

Great Old One, Orgesh CR 28 CE Aberration This bloated figure is humanoid in form, with clawed arms and legs that bend like the haunches of a dog. Its head is split by a slavering maw with multiple rows of shark-like teeth, but bearing no other facial features.

Orgesh, the Faceless God CE genderless Great Old One of alchemy, hunger and subterranean waters Domains Chaos, Earth, Evil, Water Subdomains Caves, Ice, Metal, Oceans Favored Weapon spear Unholy Symbol An open fanged maw with a rune in the center Worshipers charda, maniacs, those seeking transformation Minions black-blooded creatures, metamorphs, winterwights

Orgesh the Faceless God is the physical embodiment of the black blood of the earth, a thick substance infused with supernatural cold and empowering to the undead. Orgesh once created the charda as a race to serve and amuse it, but grew bored and abandoned its spawn. Orgesh now roams the Darklands of Golarion, searching for a worthy opponent to either challenge its skills or put it out of its misery and allow it to escape the planet. If Orgesh is slain, the black blood of the earth will drain through the fabric of space and time, seeping into a new planet and granting Orgesh the opportunity to explore and predate upon a new world.

Orgesh is an explorer and experimenter by nature, and sees combat as the perfect opportunity to try out new battle tactics and forms. Orgesh’s body is semi-fluid, and it can shape its form into new ways to augment its abilities. Orgesh is naturally blind, but can grow eyes if it requires sight—such eyes form all over its body except on its face. Orgesh typically enters combat by spraying foes with a cone of black blood, then rushes forward to devour survivors. Any creature that succumbs to the energy drain Orgesh inflicts rises as a winterwight; much to Orgesh’s disappointment, most creatures die of wounds long before they reach that point.

Orgesh’s cult is small and nearly forgotten. Its doctrine states that its worshipers must try to kill and eat each other in order to concentrate their power. This doctrine was designed by Orgesh in order to create a possible rival, in the hope of being slain by their last follower in order to escape to another planet. The charda it created in the distant past still revere Orgesh loosely, but true clerics of Orgesh are few and far between. It is occasionally venerated by alchemists and necromancers who seek to tap into the potential of the black blood of the earth. Metamorphs see Orgesh as a kindred spirit, combining an ever shifting body with a keen intellect, and those of a more religious bent view Orgesh as their patron.