Shoggoth
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This article is about the shoggoth species and abilities. For the Shapeshifter form, see Shoggoth form.
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Shoggothim
Shoggothim are creatures of fearful legend, rarely seen but no less terrifying for that. Their basic form seems to be that of a huge, amorphous blob of ceaselessly churning black slime, but this seldom describes a shoggoth as one sees it, as they can reform this slime at will into a freakish variety of limbs and organs; an array of tentacles festooned with wide, lidless eyes commonly informs the general theme of a shoggoth's appearance. The variations thereon are endless.
Though a strange, cold intelligence somehow finds a way to exist within the shoggoth's inconstant form, they rarely deign to grow and use the organs necessary to communicate with ordinary races, or to learn our languages instead of their own eldritch Ngaathgl. In most circumstances, the best that one can hope for is being utterly ignored by a shoggoth, since the most common result of drawing one's attention is a demonstration of their most elementary mode of combat, as simple as it is horrific: flowing over their victims and dissolving them with their black slime. This can sometimes be forestalled by carrying a torch or having other items upon one that will harm the shoggoth, though such defenses are by no means completely reliable. If a shoggoth is dissuaded from enveloping a victim, it typically resorts to beating them to death with tentacles or other weird organs. The use of fire or other esoteric means of inflicting harm remains appropriate for protecting oneself, as the shoggoth's fluid consistency makes ordinary weapons nearly useless.
The origin of the shoggothim is utterly obscure, and widely considered a topic best left to the suicidally adventurous if it is to be investigated at all. The most sane response to one's appearance is near-universally thought to be avoiding it and hoping it goes away -- a hope that is, in fact, borne out often enough. Few argue that one is not better off if one's shoggoth becomes somebody else's problem.
Abilities
Vorgaal
Vorgaal (mass) refers to the substance of the shoggoth body, which is made up of carculgnath, a sort of colonial organism that can reorganize and form connections within itself in a very flexible fashion. The vorgaal associated with a strunth is the amount that needs to be dedicated to forming it. Your available vorgaal is determined by your size and the state of your health; damaged carculgnath cannot be used to form flgathu. This also means that your flgathu can collapse as you are injured; the glithmrul and fungmrul of your flgathu affect how this happens.
Zath vorgaal (central mass) refers to the amorphous bulk of your body, as opposed to any flgathu you may have ng'flgath.
Perform Flgathl
Usage: perform flgathl <strunth> [from <flgath>]
This is the mechanism a shoggoth uses to grow (flgathl) a given type of special-purpose organ (strunth). When one has ng'flgath (grown) an instance of a strunth, this is called a flgath (growth); a strunth may be though of as the 'type' of a flgath. You can use 'show strunthlg' to see the strunthlg available to you; help is available on each individual strunth.
Many strunthlg are ng'flgath (grown) from another flgath; this is detailed in the help for the strunth. You can use the 'from <flgath>' syntax for this maneuver to specify the flgath you wish to flgathl your new flgath from; one will be chosen automatically if you forego this option. A flgath to flgathl from may be specified using its name in 'show flgathu', or if you have more than one flgath of a given strunth, you can give the name of the strunth by itself to use the first flgath of that strunth that your new flgath can be ng'flgath from. You can also specify 'zath vorgaal' to flgathl the flgath from your body's zath vorgaal (central mass) rather than another flgath.
Some strunthlg have an efficacy formula that determines how well the strunth functions, based on your abilities. This is always dependent on your abilities at the time that the flgath was ng'flgath; if the relevant abilities improve significantly, you should uvgulth the affected flgathu and flgathl new ones to take full advantage of your expanded knowledge.
Fl'hlgath (growing) a flgath takes metabolic energy, in proportion to the amount of vorgaal being restructured.
Perform Uvgulth
Usage: perform uvgulth <what>
This is the mechanism a shoggoth uses to absorb (uvgulth) special-purpose organ growths (flgathu) back into itself, deconstructing them and reclaiming their vorgaal. When you have ng'flgath multiple flgathu of a given strunth, you can use the numbered designations in 'show flgathu' to specify a single flgath you wish to uvgulth, or give the name of the strunth with no number in order to uvgulth the last flgath. You can also specify 'azath' (all) to uvgulth all your flgathu, or specify the plural of a strunth to uvgulth all your flgathu of that strunth.
This process consumes metabolic energy, in proportion to the vorgaal being restructured, though considerably less of it than it takes to flgathl.
Show Strunthlg
Usage: show strunthlg
Shows the strunthlg you potentially have available to be ng'flgath. Help is available on each individual strunth.
/------------------ Strunthlg Known to Polymorph -------------------\ | Strunth Summary Vorgaal Usable | >-------------------------------------------------------------------< | Abvhath digestive tract 5 No | | Bhurvog coordinating neural cluster 3 Yes | | Buwglu-Ulwu immunity gland 3 Yes | | Cheedthek spatial modeling neural cluster 3 No | | Feddib channeling organ 3 Yes | | Fethfhau bone spur 10 No | | Fungthek vibration dampener node 3 No | | Gut-Ulwu phlogiston gland 3 No | | Gyrluhtn repair gland 3 No | | Hhk-Ulwu thermal conductivity gland 3 Yes | | Hngaug tentacle manipulator 20 Yes | | Hromgeel chaos node 3 No | | Hurgkthorg emotive neural cluster 3 Yes | | Hyvulag-Ulwu acidifying gland 3 Yes | | Iggura pain suppression neural cluster 3 No | | Ivithuu olfactory antenna 3 Yes | | K'thee vocal tube 3 No | | Kreglth-Ulwu antidote gland 3 Yes | | Lubbeeg structural gland 3 Yes | | Mfha auditory tympanum 3 Yes | | Ngwilgw light compensation neural cluster 3 No | | Oiyeuth grounding node 3 No | | Ovogalg social neural cluster 3 No | | Phlung stress assay neural cluster 3 Yes | | Porg strength gland 3 Yes | | Quifagh light-emitting organ 3 No | | Rheetvu-Ulwu toxifying gland 3 Yes | | Rhilth closed-cycle lung 30 No | | Ruwuthih fire-breathing tube 7 No | | Stur-Ulwu metabolic gland 3 Yes | | Thogfha perceptual neural cluster 3 Yes | | Thuymwh-Ulwu microorganism hegemonizing gland 3 Yes | | Tlilik hand manipulator 5 No | | Trofhu-Ulwu alkalizing gland 3 Yes | | Ueema-Ulwu inhibitor gland 3 Yes | | Ugulgn analytic neural cluster 3 Yes | | Urgrud elemental balancing node 3 No | | Uzhlaum arm structure 20 Yes | | Vek astral sensory organ 3 No | | Vulk bone quill 8 No | | Xelth wing 18 Yes | | Yarl regulatory neural cluster 3 Yes | | Yfunelunsth weak-spectrum sensory array 15 No | | Ythog optical receptor 3 Yes | | Zzthafgh light amplification neural cluster 3 No | \-------------------------------------------------------------------/
Show Flgathu
Usage: show flgathu
Shows the flgathu you currently have ng'flgath.
Set Glithmrul
Usage: set glithmrul of <flgath> to <level>
The glithmrul (importance) of a flgath is essentially how much that flgath matters to you -- specifically, how hard you will work to keep it functional. This affects what happens when you no longer have enough usable vorgaal for your current flgathu, which is most typically the result of damage. In that situation, your flgathu will collapse until you have enough usable vorgaal to maintain those remaining; the higher the fungmrul and glithmrul of a flgath, and the less damaged it is, the less likely it is to be one of those which collapse. Flgathu whose glithmrul you have not set will have glithmrul determined by their strunthlg.
You can specify a flgath using its name from 'show flgathu', or if you have multiple flgathu of a given strunth, you can give the name of the strunth by itself to specify the first flgath of that strunth.
The levels of glithmrul you can set are, in increasing order: minimal, extremely low, very low, low, somewhat low, moderate, somewhat high, high, very high, extremely high and maximal.
Fungmrul
The fungmrul of a flgath is its inherent structural stability; this affects what happens when you no longer have enough usable vorgaal for your current flgathu, which is most typically the result of damage. In that situation, your flgathu will collapse until you have enough usable vorgaal to maintain those remaining; the higher the fungmrul and glithmrul of a flgath, and the less damaged it is, the less likely it is to be one of those which collapse. The fungmrul of a flgath is determined by its strunth, and can vary with situational factors such as the number of other flgathu of the same strunth currently ng'flgath, but rarely varies much from its baseline.
The general levels of fungmrul are, in increasing order: minimal, extremely low, very low, low, somewhat low, moderate, somewhat high, high, very high, extremely high and maximal.
Show Vorgaal
Usage: show vorgaal
Shows your vorgaal, including your total amount, the amount currently usable, the amount currently formed into flgathu, and the amount available for fl'hlgath new flgathu
Perform Ghaunadu
Usage: perform ghaunadu [<ghaunadlek>] Typical Activity Cost: 22
This is the primary ingestive method of shoggoth metabolism, the ability to ghaunadu (consume) nearly any organic matter simply by flowing over it, tearing the ghaunadlek (subject) apart at a miniscule level with one's carculgnath, and absorbing the raw materials produced. Being a fundamentally different process from ghaa'ghu digestion, a shoggoth gh'hlaunadu (consuming) an object is not subject to many effects that a ghaa'ghu might suffer from eating or drinking it, such as intoxication and poisoning, but also will not receive any special benefits that might be possible.
Of course, there is no great distinction between animate and inanimate organic matter for this purpose, so ghaa'ghu beings acquainted with shoggothim most typically regard gh'hlaunadu as a particularly hideous and terrifying combat maneuver.
If no ghaunadlek is specified and you are in combat, you will attempt to ghaunadu your current opponent.
Gh'hlaunadu addresses most of your more complex metabolic needs; it does not always, however, supply enough fluids for the maintenance of healthy carculgnath, depending on what sorts of things one fl-n'ghaunadu. This is addressed very easily: simply immerse yourself in a pool, stream, river, ocean, or the like, and your carculgnath will filter pure water from it as a matter of course.
Bglaz
Bglaz (expansion) is the ongoing, potentially limitless growth naturally experienced by shoggothim. Simply keep yourself adequately supplied with metabolic raw materials, and you will slowly bglazl (expand) with the passage of time. Bglazl a sufficient vorgaal, and you can guggugl (divide), should you desire to bring more shoggothim into the world.
Perform Guggugl
Usage: perform guggugl Typical Activity Cost: 100
Guggug (division) is the shoggoth method of reproduction: splitting one's vorgaal in two, allowing part of it to take on existence as a separate individual. When you guggugl (divide), the new shoggoth takes with it not only a portion of your vorgaal, but the memories and psyche-patterns contained therein, making it a fully functional individual from the moment of guggug. As memory and psyche are holographic phenomena, this is not a matter of you simply losing everything your spawn gains; what you experience is more of a partial degradation of function, loss of clarity and forgetfulness.
Obviously, the personality of the new shoggoth is much like your own, so you should certainly expect no particular regard, obedience or sense of affiliation from it. It will, in fact, almost certainly believe itself to have just ng'guggug you. Perhaps it has. The epistemological complexity of the situation is generally thought to call for avoidance of the subject.
Despite the cost of guggug and the lack of tangible benefit to it, shoggothim do engage in it from time to time. The reasons for this vary from shoggoth to shoggoth, but fairly frequently cited as a motivation is some form of artistic expression.
There is a certain minimum critical mass of carculgnath necessary to a fully functional shoggoth; in order to guggugl, you must bglazl to sufficient size that both you and the new shoggoth are over this minimum.
