Thultu
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| |
|---|---|
| Aliases | Great Leviathan, Father of Monsters |
| Portfolio | The Seas, Monsters, Hidden Places |
| Race | Mistlord |
| Status | Alive |
| Realm | The Lost Fathoms |
| Symbol | Humanoid shaped head with tentacles. |
| Cult | None |
“Everyone wears a mask. We hide the truth from anyone who would seek it. The difference between a Saint and a Sinner is that one revels in the truth of their own existence. The other hides from it. We go to wars for the pleasure of carnage in a quest for pointless supremacy and then have the audacity to call that which is different from us monstrous. Know this truth; every memorial to a martyr is also a monument to a murderer. For in this world there are no heroes. No, we’re all monsters here.”
King of the Depths. Father of Monsters. The Great Leviathan. The Mistlord Thultu is a creature that inspires as much dread as he does cautious reverence. To encounter this entity or even one of his creations is to come face to face with something that defies mortal imagining. Whether it is an experience that will drive one to madness or mania is likened to little more than chance. Unlike many of the Mistlords that dwell within the Shrouded Realms of the Aetherium, Thultu is one that has remained a steadfast deity that is regularly invoked. He is regarded as the undisputed master of the Seas and all that call the waters their home. His patronage of monsters is often second to his primary domain of the seas and it is often a rather controversial aspect to his being. While there is no questioning that the many leviathans and terrifying creatures that dwell within the seas are spawned from his influence, the more subtle aspects of this domain lead many to believe that he is the insidious patron of more philosophical views on the term “monster”.
Perception
Thultu is a god who many seek to appease through convincing him to ignore their presence as opposed to acknowledging it. While Aedrin is regarded as the God of Nature in that he is the creator of the world’s environments, flora and fauna, the Dragon God is typically seen as a deity who presides over the worlds primal forces and is not ascribed to any one domain thereof. Early in Ransera’s history, Thultu established himself as the undisputed God of the Seas. The dark and often terrifying watery depths suited the Mistlord well and he has maintained his dominance of the portfolio ever since. Sailors across the world have, for centuries, offered sacrifices large and small to the Great Leviathan in the hopes for safe passage through Ransera’s seas. Ships and their crews have met terrible fates often enough to reinforce the belief that a lack of these offerings is more risk than most are willing to take.
Outside of his association with the seas, Thultu is a Mistlord who has seldom involved himself directly in the affairs of mortals at large. At least, not overtly. Those instances where worshippers of the Father of Monsters have made themselves known have been particularly dark for the circumstances involved. Thultu is a deity who makes no effort to make his desires known and he neither encourages nor discourages worship of him. He does not speak on whether those who venerate him are right or wrong. Those who revere him are as liable to be seekers of dark truths simply for the sake of academics as they are to be fanatical cultists seeking to raise leviathans from the depths of the seas. Thultu has indulged both ends of the spectrum. Wherever his influence has been known to manifest however there has always been a touch of something that defies comprehension, as though something were always missing from the full picture of understanding him and that which is connected to him. It is this element associated with Thultu and those who worship him that inspires the belief that he awakens the monster inside mortals just as much as he creates them outright. Many are the mild-mannered scholars who have been driven absolutely mad in their quest to gain power and understanding from him. There are as many examples of vile people and organizations gaining his favor as there are examples of average people who, for some unknown reason, find themselves in his good graces. While these people are often odd themselves, they just as often do not meet terrible fates.
His association with Hidden Places is less widely known but those that do speak of this particular aspect of the Mistlord do so with as much wonder as they do caution. The extent of what his reach over Hidden Places means is completely unknown, as seems to be the Mistlord’s intent. It is this aspect of him however that nearly always sparks a deeper interest in the Great Leviathan himself.
The Lost Fathoms
Many speculate about the nature of the Lost Fathoms as Thultu’s realm within the Aetherium. Accounts of the Mistlord’s domain speak of it being a place completely submerged in a dark endless ocean. It is rumored to be filled with colossal leviathans that put even those that lurk within the depths of Ransera’s oceans to shame. However, there are several conflicting accounts of the Lost Fathoms also possessing cavernous spaces that are not submerged in water. These places seem to be the dilapidated remains of some ancient and unknown civilization that follow deeply aquatic themes with a horrific twist. Exactly what is and is not within the Lost Fathoms is something only those who venture there are ever certain of. Most do not return. The few that do are never the same.
Stories tied to Thultu
“Do you know the story of beautiful Alatais? A kingdom of such glory. In the Age of Wonders there stood Alatais, far to the south beyond the waters of the Crystal Sea. Great were its achievements and many were its ambitions. With prowess over the seas that put even the Clockwork Empire to shame and a might that could have swept across the world. But there rose a great calamity and one day, Alatais and all of its wonders were swallowed by the seas. For it is said that this kingdom slighted the Great Leviathan and in their folly sought to conquer realms that mortals should never covet.”
Religious Factions
Thultu has no singular religious faction. The cults that venerate him are many but typically operate in deep secrecy as their practices often involve monstrous experimentation or terrible sacrifices. Even those groups that explore Thultu for purely academic reasons are known to have a touch of darkness within them as grim fates often await some of their less cautious members.
