| “ | …ring that was wrought with the tentacles of a kraken clasping the orblike gem | „ | |
| ~ "The Master of Crabs" |
Basatan is a sea god of Zothique. His appearance is unknown, but most likely he has tentacles and fins.
There's a magic ring associated with him that gives its owner the powers to control sea winds and creatures.
It's possible that the people of Zothique know Cthulhu or Dagon by the name of Basatan.
Behind the Mythos[]
Basatan was created by Clark Ashton Smith for the non-Mythos Zothique tale "The Master of Crabs".
There is a common misunderstanding that Basatan is "The Master of Crabs" and so must look like a gigantic crab. However, in the story, he is not described at all. "The Master of Crabs" is the sorcerer Sarcand, who used Basatan's ring to rule the crabs for there were a lot of these creatures in his palace.
By the look of the ring "with the tentacles of a kraken clasping the orb-like gem" and the visions that one of the characters sees in the orb "swirling as of tides and of shadowy fins and tentacles far down in its glimmering greenness" we сan assume that he has tentacles and/or fins.
In Popular Culture[]
- In the game Deep Black there is a boss called Basatan, which is a crab-like mech.
- A gigantic crab and a magic ring feature prominently in the Dungeons & Dragons adventure module White Plume Mountain, which has other faint echoes of the Zothique stories.