Page 29 - Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations

Holashner (The Hunger Below): Holashner is one of the so horrifying that to see it clearly is to invite utter destruction
few Elder Evils to exist fully in the physical world. Appearing upon the body and the soul. The aboleths honor Y’chak in their
as part squid and part centipede, this massive creature burrows cities by the construction of massive pillars of violet flame that

through the deepest reaches of the world, driven only by its burn even underwater. The pulsations and writhing of these

unending hunger. It eats stone, magma, creatures, and anything columns of fire are used to mark the passage of time or even
else in its path. The material it leaves behind is called the “Black to send simple messages out to the entire city at once.
Bile of the World” by aboleths. This runny, tarlike substance
is explosive and volatile when exposed to air. Over the course Adopted Deities
of only a few months, it can be compressed by tremendous With each passing incarnation of the aboleth empire, more
and more of their kind are exposed to divine magic and the
pressures into a black obsidianlike material called bilestone.
CHAPTER 2 THE DEEP MASTERS Fortunately for the world, Holashner’s progress through the power of faith. Not all of the coldly logical aboleths are as quick

to discount the obvious benefits of divine magic as inferior
depths is far slower than the time required for bilestone to
degrade back into normal stone.
to psionics or arcane magic. Of these aboleths, a few actually
come to realize that forging an alliance with a powerful entity
Holashner is honored in aboleth architecture by the inclu-
sion of myriad spindly protrusions, tangled foundations at
the base of buildings, or, rarely, by the inclusion of bilestone (about as far as an aboleth can go toward worshiping another
being) can be a useful advantage. Thus, the advent of aboleths

inlays in the building’s walls, ceiling, and floor. that become clerics, druids, and other divine spellcasters is
Piscaethces (The Blood Queen): Piscaethces, the source of slowly on the rise. These aboleths are naturally drawn to the
the aboleth race, is depicted as a vast aboleth with no tentacles worship of deities such as Ghaunadaur, the Patient One, and
and with mucus the color of blood. The aboleths believe that Tharizdun (see pages 177–178).
the Blood Queen travels the currents of probability between While cities of devout, deity-worshiping aboleths might
infinite realities, spreading her seed almost as an afterthought exist, they remain the exception to the norm. Traditional-

as she moves from one world to another. The aboleths do not minded aboleths regard aboleths that adopt the gods of lesser
expect her return, but if she did come back and spawn a new races as traitors of the worst sort, enemies of the aboleth race
aboleth scion, that would be proof that existence is a circular as a whole.

but finite realm, and thus able to be conquered completely.
Piscaethces is honored in aboleth architecture by the inclusion The Aboleths and Cthulhu
of large domed windows of red crystal. Readers will notice a thematic resemblance between the abo-
Shothotugg (Eater of Worlds): Shothotugg shares one leths, the Elder Evils, and various creatures or beings found
quality with Holashner—it is one of the few Elder Evils to exist in the stories of H. P. Lovecraft. This is, of course, completely
entirely within the realm of the Material Plane. Shothotugg intentional. Of all the major aberration races in the DUNGEONS
dwells in a distant corner of the multiverse, physically far & DRAGONS game, the aboleths best personify the sense of
removed from the world itself. An undulant mass of seething cosmic horror and the ultimate insignificance of humankind

fluid the size of a mountain, Shothotugg travels through the expressed in Lovecraft’s writings. In fact, it’s quite easy to treat
gulfs of space from world to world, poisoning and parasitizing the aboleths themselves as a Lovecraftian race akin to the elder
any world on which it alights. With each destruction, the things featured in “At the Mountains of Madness” and “The
fundamental forces in the Material Plane shift ever so slightly, Dreams in the Witch House.”

but over time, these changes significantly alter the multiverse. By extension, the various monsters of the Cthulhu Mythos

Shothotugg is honored in aboleth structures by the placement fit nicely into encounters with aboleths or adventures set in an
of large pools and fountains of magically treated and colored aboleth city. Aboleth allies or servitors might include mi-go,
liquids that are much heavier than water, or by swirling vortex deep ones, dholes, gugs, shoggoths, or serpent people. Enemies
patterns laid into the floor. might include the elder things, flying polyps, or the Great Race

Y’chak (The Violet Flame): Y’chak is unique among the of Yith.
Elder Evils in a terrible way—it is actively interested in the Likewise, the five Elder Evils commonly honored by the

development of life or, to be more precise, in the development aboleths could be previously unknown Great Old Ones or
of the destruction of life. Its presence can be felt in civilizations Outer Gods, or perhaps they are just alternate names for more
throughout time, because it acts as a muse and inspiration for familiar entities:
all that is destructive and ruinous. The aboleths believe that Bolothamogg: Yog-Sothoth.
the gods of cruelty, war, and death came to be as a result of Holashner: Shudde M’ell or Tsathoggua.
Y’chak’s whisperings. Y’chak certainly encourages the worship Piscaethces: Cthulhu or Shub-Niggurath.
of evil deities. It appears to those it contacts as a seductive or Shothotugg: Azathoth.
respectable member of the same race, but its true form is said to Y’chak: Nyarlathotep or Hastur.
be a brilliant pillar of violet flames that conceal an inner form

28