Im trying to make a bunch of Lovecraftian Deities based on the 108 defilements of buddhism, but i need a bit of help as i dont even know where to start.
Im trying to make a bunch of Lovecraftian Deities based on the 108 defilements of buddhism, but i need a bit of help as i dont even know where to start.
Thank you, that might be an interesting way to think about it. I already thought of one, basically Idleness is represented by a formless living cosmic wave that has the potential to wipe out everything in existence, however it's too intrigued by everything going on to really do anything. Ill get it to the Lovecraftian name generator.
Also, since Lovecraft imagined the deities, would he kinda have power over them? Think about it, he wrote them into existence, so therefore, could he be considered more powerful then Azzathoth in that respective universe? I mean, i know hes dead and all.. but...
Certainly a creative way of portraying something that's often displayed idly, I look forward to hearing more about it.
As for Lovecraft's "power" I feel that if anything the way he writes shows that even he, like the narrators he speaks through, fears to fully describe the horrors of the mythos. If he did enter his own universe I reckon he'd be more of a Friedrich von Junzt than an Azathoth. That being said he'd probably compare himself to Randolph Carter so what do I know?
I'd like to hear some ideas. Ill add a link to the sins.
Lascivicousness: Its represented by an Entity from outside the universe known as "Queen" or "Mother" as its true name is completely unwritable, and is probably the most human looking of the Eldritch Abominations. Her followers completely dissilusioned and believes that humans need to find their "Salvation" through exposing them to Queen and her children, turning them into their "Human toys", and while they do retain a relatively large ammount of their sanity, they find themselves subconsiously devoted to whichever one they were exposed to, no matter how much they try to fight it, they'll find themselves coming back to them. If theres some kind of Sanity preserving artifact on them, however, the effect will be reversed.
The only suggestion I'd have from a Lovecraftian point of view is that titles would usually be slightly longer even if that just means adding "The Something" or "of Something" Eg "The Insatiable Queen of Carnal Hordes" . I'm afraid I'm not particularly creative so constructive criticism is probably the best I can offer but  I did have a couple of rough ideas (the names are generated placeholders):Â
Ishopar (Sadism): Offers "sanity preserving artifacts" to mortals affected by gods like "Mother" in return for favours and devotions. Only when they complete the tasks and Ishopar grannts them lucidity do they fully understand what they've done in service of Ishopar and fall once more to new depths of insanity.Â
Mh'izhurh (Tyranny): Lovecraft's stories strech far further back than our own history and there's plenty of space to throw in long forgotten nations and civilisations. With that in mind Mh'izhurh could convince an ancient ruler that if they don't make their people worship Mh'izhurh it will destroy them. Believing that they're protecting their subjects from a great evil they use more and more violent methods to enforce the god's orders. Unknown to them Mh'izhurh had been crippled by another god in the pantheon and although it is currently incapable of carrying out its threats the fearful prayers of the subdued people are restoring it to its full terrible power.  From there you can decide to have the people rebel under a scholar who knows the truth, have the ruler realise what's happening sacrifice themselves in an attempt to stop it or let Mh'izhurh reach full strength and wreak havok on the nation (At the same you could also do all three or none of those endings).
One problem is that actions of both also fall under the defilement of deceit.
(Theztost was another half decent name from the generator )
Wow, your good.
Also, going back to the thing i said earlier about Lovecraft himself, i dont mean as in if he were actually in the universe. I was thinking as in from here, (assuming Lovecraft's works are fiction, the way he writes it we wouldnt be able to tell if they arent) where hes completely safe from the entities who's universe, in this world, is merely a page, or a thought in his head. With a single thought, he could completely change the form of the universe, even being capable of destroying Azathoth without effecting the rest of the universe in any way (not that he would), because he, in a way, controls everything their. Same could be applied to the various other writers that took up his mantle after the man passed.Â
And the same to you. The trouble with that is that to maintain power as a writer they also need to maintain the approval of their readers. Using Arthur Conan Doyle as an example, when he killed Sherock Holmes in 1893 there was public refused to accept it and he was forced to bring Holmes back in 1903. In the same way if Lovecraft had killed off Azathoth or Cthulu I doubt it would have been accepted as canon as it would be a complete change from his previous direction. Although my own headcanon is pretty narrow (Just Lovecraft's stories and the ones within his Circle that he referenced) I think that most people would also reject anything written after his death that tried to do something so drastic.
Just a couple of things to consider do you reckon they'll be a earth dwelling Great Old Ones, space dwelling Outer Gods or a mix? Also will any similar ones be linked (e.g. enviousness and jealousy) like Nug and Yeb and/or will any smaller ones (e.g. sarcasm) serve larger ones (e.g. mercilessness) in a similar way to Nyarlathotep?
Well true...
And a little bit of a mix of both, smaller ones could serve larger ones, and they could be linked.
Ostentatiousness: A being similar to Nyarlothotep, except he's a bit more benevolent. Despite the fact he has a cult, he actually doesnt really want to destroy humanity or drag them all into madness, he sees them all in a similar way that a child looks at a family dog. He grants his followers talent and skill, to the point where alot of them can perform seemingly any task performable by any human ever, such as the Inventing of Nikola Tesla, the Skills of any Athlete, or the Survival experience of Bear Grylls.
Not much, just loyalty to him. He's more benevolent then most entities like him.