Swords & Wizardry: an Eldritch Horror

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Shab-Ittoq, a Thing Man Was Not Meant To Know

Long before the coming of humans and their ilk, the world was ruled by ancient, eldritch beings from beyond space and time.   These beings were active only when the universe was in a particular alignment; when the universe held a different alignment these beings could not exist as we understand it and passed away eons in a state of pseudo death waiting for the cosmos to right itself.

The last shift in the alignment of the universe heralded the coming of men and their humanoid cousins, who happily assumed stewardship of the world in the absence of these alien beings.

As the universe shifted, the great island-city wherein most of these entitles lived sank far beneath the waves to settle at the bottom of the ocean; as their high priest retreated into a dark temple, one of its tentacles was severed.  Trapped beneath the rubble of the sunken city and bathed in the otherworldly energies which clung to the ruins, the monstrous tentacle mutated and took on a life of its own.

For some reason, the tentacular horror which became known as Shab-Ittoq is not bound to the same laws as is the being from which it was created, and it is able to exist regardless of how the universe is aligned.  Over the course of time, Shab-Ittoq has freed itself from its prison under the rubble of the sunken city and now it carries out the will of its parent which is made clear through powerful, psychic dreams.

Shab-Ittoq is not the only being who receives the twisted dreams of its creator; from the moment man reached a level of self-awareness, some men have been cursed with a sensitivity to the alien being’s dream-sendings.  Unable to bear the mental brunt of such alien thoughts, these men go mad, worship the eldritch beings as if they were gods, and recruit others into cults which actively work to prepare the world for when the universe is once again aligned and the monstrous beings return to re-establish their rule.  Shab-Ittoq often acts as a proxy and herald to these cultists, making appearances and accepting sacrifices on behalf of its maker.

Being composed of unearthly material and not subject to the laws of matter as we know them, Shab-Ittoq can never truly be killed.  If it is reduced to 0 HP, Shab-Ittoq will dissolve into a viscous, slimy goo which seeps through the ground to eventually find its way back to the sunken city.  Once it reaches its home,  it slowly re-forms and emerges with full HPs by the next full moon.

Shab-Ittoq: HD 10; AC 0 [19]; Atk 1 smash (3d6) ; Move 12; Save: 6; CL/XP: 10/1400; Special: swim