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My New Chthulu Mythos Set
If I can get the permission of several other Cardsmiths such as: Beeswax, Adnorap and especially AustinSmith, I will be starting a new Chthulu based set on their ideas. If any of the Cardsmiths above or anyone else interested read this post please just respond on one of my cards. Again if any of the Cardsmiths above are not okay with me using some of their fundamental ideas...please tell me, it will be totally fine.
Anyways... I really need help with the lore...
So... the world of this set, is divided into few factions. Here is the lore so far.
The old ones, (Chthulu, Rhyleh, and all other Lovecraft monstrosities) created everything, and some of the lesser ones, settled on the plane on which the set takes place. As the plane began to evolve rapidly, due to the presence of the old ones, capitals and countries were established. As the races of the plane became more and more advanced, magic began to wither form the world, and some, turned to the eldritch deities to preserve their powers. Those few who wanted to preserve magic soon divided, as some fled to the forests of the plane, while the others kept with their dark gods, and formed cults. All of this time, as magic faded, the old ones tried to escape the plane, thinking that they have lingered there long enough, yet due to the absence of magic, they remained trapped beneath the landscapes of the plane, and took on severely more mortal forms. (Btw, according to the lore which i have created, the Eldrazi, are also simply weaker old ones.)
Years after,steampunk technology began to arise.Then followed years of war and peace, prosperity and famine, trade and alliances, and all was well. Until...Darvin was born. Darvin, showed extreme intellect and genius beginning from his childhood. His parents, were artificers, of the great province of Gent. On his nineteenth birthday, Darvin and his parents, were attacked by maddened druid cultists. They surrounded his house and as they were at the door, a voice, spoke within Darvin. It told him to think. So he thought. In minutes, he created and electrical field which repelled the attackers. However, the field also killed his parents, and exploded Darvin into pieces, as he was blown into the multiverse. He landed on Alara, where he met Tezzeret, who was still a young artificer. Tezzeret, fixed Darvin's body, turning him into a clockwork cyborg. Upon recovery, Darvin thanked Tezzeret, and left Alara. From there he traveled the multiverse, accumulating greater and greater wisdom. On his travels he met Niv-Mizzet, as well as Jace and Chandra. He basically became Chandra's boyfriend after learning about her similar past and traveling to her home plane of artifice. Yet still, the notion of magic disgusted him, as he strived to become the only planeswalker in the multiverse with no need for magic, depending solely on artifice and guile. After deriving that he has been away from his plan for three hundred years, he decided to trip back to it, and see the progress of the past three centuries. Upon arriving home, Darvin was outraged to see that almost nothing has technologically changed or advanced. He instantly set to progressing the city through the charts and plans acquired from Ravnica, Fiora, Kaladesh, and other planes. His vision of uniting magic and artifice into a brave new world of steam, mesmerized many followers, who eventually elected Darvin into the position of steamlord. Darvin became the monarch of countless kingdoms and provinces, as they joined his new rule. Those who resisted to pledge allegiance to him, were wiped from the face of the newly reforming plane. However, Darvin discovered threats as well as benefits within his new Empire. Murderous cults stalked the streets by day and night, savage and occult beasts, were drawn from the frontiers of civilization to the cities and ports, and innumerable conspirators plotted riots and uprisings within his dominion. All of this was happening because upon Darvin's return, magic was reintroduced into the world, and molded with the creations of and the old ones, sensed it.
In the first set, Tezerret and Chandra are asked to help Darvin regain control over the crumbling ruins of his Empire, and to uncover what secrets lie beneath his cities and ports, in the Underground. They arrive to a scene of destruction, where Darvin's a sea monsters attack the port town. They then, set off to the underground, where they learn of the ancient beings that live beneath the icy depths of the northern pole of the plane. Ugin, helps the two planeswalkers through an artifact which they find within the Underground, and communicates with them, yet never visits the plane, as he is trapped on Tarkir, healing his wounds. Unknown to the planeswalkers, it is actually Bolas, not Ugin who advises them, and they end up aiding a cult in the release of an avatar of an eldritch deity.
In the second set, Chandra hates to see another plane ruined because of her mistake, and leaves Tezzeret to destroy the avatar, before he can reach the mountains of madness and free the bonds which hold the old ones on this plane. Tezzeret. becomes mind controlled by the mad-scientist Tiron the Horde Stitcher who after learning of the potential of the spark, derives a way to steal Tezzeret's. Meanwhile, Chandra journeys to the Mountains of Madness, where she is met by her former enemy Ramaz, who has gone mad with releasing the old ones and who has long since stopped serving Bolas. In the battle at the mountains, Chandra and Ramaz duel. Chandra is extremely careful not to cast powerful spells, so that her intense fire magic doesn't release the old ones. Somehow, Darvin appears, and willingly sacrifices his spark to stop Ramaz from destroying the plane with the release of the old ones. A single deity however, is released. It has been stuck on the plane for less time than the others, so it was easier to It is far more wise and cunning than the others, and exclaims that it must rejoin his brothers at Zendikar. With that, the monstrosity leaves the plane, making Chandra go to Zendikar in order to war the others, that the ongoing battle will be joined by another Eldrazi.
Again this whole thing is just an outline... please comment and don't hate. If any of the Cardsmiths mentioned above are not happy with me using some of their names/lore, then I would be happy to delete this post. Thank you again for the tolerance. To all other readers, visit Beeswax's Adnorap's and AustinSmith's pages for further detail (They are also amazing Cardsmiths and players).
Thank you!
-Therussian58
Anyways... I really need help with the lore...
So... the world of this set, is divided into few factions. Here is the lore so far.
The old ones, (Chthulu, Rhyleh, and all other Lovecraft monstrosities) created everything, and some of the lesser ones, settled on the plane on which the set takes place. As the plane began to evolve rapidly, due to the presence of the old ones, capitals and countries were established. As the races of the plane became more and more advanced, magic began to wither form the world, and some, turned to the eldritch deities to preserve their powers. Those few who wanted to preserve magic soon divided, as some fled to the forests of the plane, while the others kept with their dark gods, and formed cults. All of this time, as magic faded, the old ones tried to escape the plane, thinking that they have lingered there long enough, yet due to the absence of magic, they remained trapped beneath the landscapes of the plane, and took on severely more mortal forms. (Btw, according to the lore which i have created, the Eldrazi, are also simply weaker old ones.)
Years after,steampunk technology began to arise.Then followed years of war and peace, prosperity and famine, trade and alliances, and all was well. Until...Darvin was born. Darvin, showed extreme intellect and genius beginning from his childhood. His parents, were artificers, of the great province of Gent. On his nineteenth birthday, Darvin and his parents, were attacked by maddened druid cultists. They surrounded his house and as they were at the door, a voice, spoke within Darvin. It told him to think. So he thought. In minutes, he created and electrical field which repelled the attackers. However, the field also killed his parents, and exploded Darvin into pieces, as he was blown into the multiverse. He landed on Alara, where he met Tezzeret, who was still a young artificer. Tezzeret, fixed Darvin's body, turning him into a clockwork cyborg. Upon recovery, Darvin thanked Tezzeret, and left Alara. From there he traveled the multiverse, accumulating greater and greater wisdom. On his travels he met Niv-Mizzet, as well as Jace and Chandra. He basically became Chandra's boyfriend after learning about her similar past and traveling to her home plane of artifice. Yet still, the notion of magic disgusted him, as he strived to become the only planeswalker in the multiverse with no need for magic, depending solely on artifice and guile. After deriving that he has been away from his plan for three hundred years, he decided to trip back to it, and see the progress of the past three centuries. Upon arriving home, Darvin was outraged to see that almost nothing has technologically changed or advanced. He instantly set to progressing the city through the charts and plans acquired from Ravnica, Fiora, Kaladesh, and other planes. His vision of uniting magic and artifice into a brave new world of steam, mesmerized many followers, who eventually elected Darvin into the position of steamlord. Darvin became the monarch of countless kingdoms and provinces, as they joined his new rule. Those who resisted to pledge allegiance to him, were wiped from the face of the newly reforming plane. However, Darvin discovered threats as well as benefits within his new Empire. Murderous cults stalked the streets by day and night, savage and occult beasts, were drawn from the frontiers of civilization to the cities and ports, and innumerable conspirators plotted riots and uprisings within his dominion. All of this was happening because upon Darvin's return, magic was reintroduced into the world, and molded with the creations of and the old ones, sensed it.
In the first set, Tezerret and Chandra are asked to help Darvin regain control over the crumbling ruins of his Empire, and to uncover what secrets lie beneath his cities and ports, in the Underground. They arrive to a scene of destruction, where Darvin's a sea monsters attack the port town. They then, set off to the underground, where they learn of the ancient beings that live beneath the icy depths of the northern pole of the plane. Ugin, helps the two planeswalkers through an artifact which they find within the Underground, and communicates with them, yet never visits the plane, as he is trapped on Tarkir, healing his wounds. Unknown to the planeswalkers, it is actually Bolas, not Ugin who advises them, and they end up aiding a cult in the release of an avatar of an eldritch deity.
In the second set, Chandra hates to see another plane ruined because of her mistake, and leaves Tezzeret to destroy the avatar, before he can reach the mountains of madness and free the bonds which hold the old ones on this plane. Tezzeret. becomes mind controlled by the mad-scientist Tiron the Horde Stitcher who after learning of the potential of the spark, derives a way to steal Tezzeret's. Meanwhile, Chandra journeys to the Mountains of Madness, where she is met by her former enemy Ramaz, who has gone mad with releasing the old ones and who has long since stopped serving Bolas. In the battle at the mountains, Chandra and Ramaz duel. Chandra is extremely careful not to cast powerful spells, so that her intense fire magic doesn't release the old ones. Somehow, Darvin appears, and willingly sacrifices his spark to stop Ramaz from destroying the plane with the release of the old ones. A single deity however, is released. It has been stuck on the plane for less time than the others, so it was easier to It is far more wise and cunning than the others, and exclaims that it must rejoin his brothers at Zendikar. With that, the monstrosity leaves the plane, making Chandra go to Zendikar in order to war the others, that the ongoing battle will be joined by another Eldrazi.
Again this whole thing is just an outline... please comment and don't hate. If any of the Cardsmiths mentioned above are not happy with me using some of their names/lore, then I would be happy to delete this post. Thank you again for the tolerance. To all other readers, visit Beeswax's Adnorap's and AustinSmith's pages for further detail (They are also amazing Cardsmiths and players).
Thank you!
-Therussian58
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
Secondly, will this set include various characters from across all these different planes or is there one in particular we'll be focusing on? You're referring to several worlds and I'm not sure which one you're referring to exactly for the project.
My one and only objection is to Davrin's relationship with Chandra. Since he's U/R artifacts, he's moreso about cunning destruction through technology, which is something Chandra's kind of opposed to.
I really like this idea, and if @Beeswax and @Adnorap also respond to this I think we could have something awesome here!
@Biblio
@TheRussian58
I have finals coming up in the next few weeks, so no promises about a time commitment, but I'm happy to contribute. Most of the good Cthulhu art has clothes from the 20s, since that's about when HP was active and where most of the games (which are a fantastic source of art) are set then.
http://feliciacano.deviantart.com/gallery/7813319/Call-of-Cthulhu-and-Arkham-Horror
http://ljekc.deviantart.com/favourites/59036269/Call-of-Cthulhu
There are some great DeviantArt collections out there, though, and 'cultist/abberation fantasy art' gives some results if you're willing to dig through Google. If you want to find the name of specific creatures, you can get better results.
If the central conflict you're trying to emphasize is 'united denizens of the world plus some planeswalkers against a suite of eldritch horrors', you're going to run into Zendikar similarities really hard. You might want to cast it more as 'technology vs. magic', with the cultists and beasties representing magic and the affiliated forces of Darvin (Darwin?) representing technology. There are some good mechanics you could do there with equipments vs. auras and so on.
Yes, even though I haven't been thinking about this too much, but this will probably turn out to be a multi-Cardsmith project (that is if you are up for it...).
No, only the actual plane on which the events take place will be made into cards. The references to other planes can be mentioned in the cards themselves, but they are mostly just for background lore.
Yes Beeswax, I am probably going to shift it to Tech V.S. Magic more. (You are right, it will be too similar with Zendikar.)
Finally notify ANY other Cardsmith you think might be interested! Eventhough I will be borrowing most lore and some of the cards from the 3 of you, others (as well as you 3), are welcome to join.
NOW... For the actual faction-like groups:
The cultists and the old ones + their offspring.-----mostly represented with red blue and black, however, ALL (except for one or two exceptions) old ones, are colorless (like the Eldrazi) even if they cost color mana. The offspring can be a variety of colors.
Darvin's empire-----red and blue (sorry AustinSmith, no white), contain tons of artifact creatures and Automatons. (NOTE: don't make them too steampunky...clockwork creatures like in the former CONSPIRACY draft set are what I am looking for)
Monsters/Beasts-----all colors. Kind of mixes up old one offspring and the regular wilds.
The wilds-----Mostly white and green with SOME black. They represent the nature that is left in the world.
The hunters/thief-----Black and white. They represent the scum of the streets and hired assassins.
Tiron and his horde-----Balck and Green, sometimes Blue. Mutated werewolves, maniacs, skeletons, zombies and other mad-scientist creations.
Vampires-----not really any colors assigned. just you regular vamps separated into some clans.
Again, there are not any REAL faction this is just how I divided them.
Common abilities/themes within Set 1: Madness. Convoke. Forsee: (A reverse of scry, you look at the top X cards of your OPPONENT'S library, and put any number of cards on the bottom, or on the top. Sanity: THIS, is a big one. Basically you start with 20 sanity counters, they are like poison counters in a way. There will be tons of cards which will make you loose sanity in return for drawing cards/scrying/killing creatures etc...this represents the Lovecraftian theme of loosing sanity in return for knowlage.
Thank you again for answering the post...If you want to work on the project, respond, and well.....start making cards (I will be asking people from time to time to revise/edit my creations. If you go to my MTGCARDSMITH page---------------------------------(http://mtgcardsmith.com/user/Therussian58), you will see the first set on the main page.
Thank you for your cooperation!
-Therussian58
Foresee is already a mechanic hinted Future Sight: Fateseal. (Spin Into Myth and Mesmeric Sliver are the only WoTC cards to feature it, but it's there).
Sanity seems like a great mechanic (reminds me of Call of Cthulhu, the RPG). One addendum: I would make it additive instead of subtractive (you start at zero insanity and go up), since that means you don't have to explain on every single card that you start with 20 sanity. You could also use it to differentiate true Outer Gods/Great Old Ones from the Eldrazi. A red/black themed GOO could have "Your opponents' maximum hand size is reduced by one for each insanity counter they have, to a minimum of one.'
My other question is how much do you want to draw upon other MtG stuff, and how much do you want to draw on the work of HP Lovecraft and kin? Does this plane have a Miskatonic University? A town of Arkham? Are the GOOs called Ithaqua and Yog-Sothoth, or does the plane feature originals? On a smaller level, do we have Mi-go and Shoggoths? It's easy to just slip in references here and there in flavor text and so on, but do you want to go full-out with that?
An example of a fun Madness spell, with a theme I've been trying to make work for AGES. I also have a trio of GOOs, although they definitely need some balance tweaks (Atlach-Nacha is a bit too strong, Hastur is probably too weak.)
Just ideas on how you could use Madness.
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/hastur-the-king-in-yellow-1?list=user
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/tsurathoth-the-mind-asunder?list=user
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/atlach-nacha-world-weaver?list=user
There are also two cards from Miskatonic University/Monastery/I Didn't Feel Like Coming Up With A New Name
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/miskatonic-purgatist?list=user
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/miskatonic-transcendentalist?list=user
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/unfathomable-spawn
NOW! TO ANSWER A FEW QUESTIONS!
Austin Smith asked: "How are we going to submit cards? Post links under your Strange Aeons page? Or are we going to do it a different way?"
-Answer: Yes, please post the suggestions beneath my custom set called: Strange Aeons
(You can find it here: http://mtgcardsmith.com/user/Therussian58/sets/4131 )
Beeswax asked: "My other question is how much do you want to draw upon other MtG stuff, and how much do you want to draw on the work of HP Lovecraft and kin? Does this plane have a Miskatonic University? A town of Arkham? Are the GOOs called Ithaqua and Yog-Sothoth, or does the plane feature originals? On a smaller level, do we have Mi-go and Shoggoths? It's easy to just slip in references here and there in flavor text and so on, but do you want to go full-out with that?"
-Answer: Beeswax, I am quite familiar with the Cthulu lore, yet I have not recalled it for some time, so you will definitely need to remind me of some aspects. To answer your questions: While I will be focusing on Lovecraftian themes quite a bit, I will NOT be using the EXACT names and locations as his works do. That said, I do expect A LOT of references and similarities, without fully making a lovecrarftian-based world. Think of this as steampunk meets Innistrad gothic horror, meets Lovecraftian gods meets the Eldrazi. Now, I looked over the lore I wrote up at the beginning of this discussion and got an idea! Seeing that we KNOW, that Koilzek returned to Zendikar in: Oath of the Gatewatch, (here is the spoiler: http://www.mythicspoiler.com/ogw/cards/kozilekthegreatdistortion.html ), my idea circulates around the fact, that after the Rise of the Eldrazi on Zendikar, while we don't know where Emrakul went, we know that Ulamog stayed on the plane. So, since after the defeat of Ulamog, Koilzek came back, Koilzek, was the enitity that was freed from the Mountains of Madness in the lore above. Please ask me if you are confused about any of this!
Also, one more thing, I DID decide that this will be a multi cardsmith project, I created an account for the set, as well as the ability for you to post your creations beneath my strange aeons set. What will end up happening, is that the breakup of commons, uncommon rares, mythics, factions etc, will happen on the custom account, while the full set, will be posted on my page, once its done.
Info on the custom account: ANYONE who is willing to contribute to the set, is definitely welcome to join. PLEASE do not delete ANYTHING, before its cleared with me and the cards creator.
To deal with recognition of who-made-what, I will be assigning roles for different factions colors etc. If you do not like what you are given, please tell me, and I will do my best to change your role.
A few things to ask, if you want people to favorite the cards that you made, but on YOUR account, make them on your account, AND on the set one.
THE ACCOUNT NAME IS: StrangeAeons
THE ACCOUNT PASSWORD IS: **PRIVATE MESSAGE ME FOR THE PASSWORD**
please say something if you have problems logging on!
Now, MORE LORE GALORE+(factions and who will be working on what...)
The first set will be focusing on THIS part of the lore:
Tezerret and Chandra are asked to help Darvin regain control over the crumbling ruins of his Empire, and to uncover what secrets lie beneath his cities and ports, in the Underground. They arrive to a scene of destruction, where Darvin's a sea monsters attack the port town. They then, set off to the underground, where they learn of the ancient beings that live beneath the icy depths of the northern pole of the plane. Ugin, helps the two planeswalkers through an artifact which they find within the Underground, and communicates with them, yet never visits the plane, as he is trapped on Tarkir, healing his wounds. Unknown to the planeswalkers, it is actually Bolas, not Ugin who advises them, and they end up aiding a cult in the release of an avatar of an eldritch deity.
There will be no actual elder-godlings, but monsters such as giant eldritch octopuses
and cultists WILL be present. The breakup of the first set will be:
MYTHIC RARES: 12
RARES: 40
UNCOMMONS: 64
COMMONS: 86
BASIC LANDS: 20
ALL TOGETHER: 222 CARDS!!!
ARE WE UP FOR IT??? I THINK SO!!!
Some of the Mythics are pre-determined, they are:
-Darwin-planeswalker
-Chandra-Planeswalker
-Tezzeret-Planeswalker
-The legendary artifact called the Tesseract, through which Nicol Bolas poses as Ugin, and communicates to Chandra and Tezzeret.
Now, the following cards HAVE to be mono-colored:
-Atlach Nacha-an eldritch spider, that reigns over the Underground: already made by Beeswax: http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/atlach-nacha-world-weaver?list=user , but needs to be mono colored. (Black)
-Ugnarul, the Swamp Elder, an eldritch plant mage, that reigns over the remaining wilderness. Kind of made by me, but needs to be more powerfull and converted to a mythic rare. (Green)
Chothub-A gluttonous being, that reigns over the plains and cult politics of the plane.
(WHITE)
Ch-Ull, Reigns over the seas and oceans of the plains, begins the conflict by attacking ships and port towns. (BLUE)
Tsurathoth,Reigns over he Mountains and maddened rage. may or may not have already been made by Beeswax (again, here is the link: http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/tsurathoth-the-mind-asunder?list=user ), but needs to be fixed into the right colors. (RED)
So... thats 9 down, and the other 3 are for you to decide...(they CANNOT BE LEGENDARY)
THANK YOU ALL OF THOSE WHO READ THIS EXTREMELY LONG AND MONOTONOUS MESSAGE, AND I HOPE THAT THIS SET WILL BE AMAZING ONCE ITS FINISHED. AGAIN, SORRY FOR THE WAIT, AND HAVE AN AMZING CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR!
PS: If you have any questions, please don't be afraid ask here!