Taxology of Madness, Bizarre, and Weird

[Xathan]

As mentioned, SH, I'd Squee so hard it's not even funny.

Oh, and by the way, here's why it's taking so long to update:

Names.

I am the single worst namer of monsters ever. Right now I have "Handyeye" and "Nastysumbitch" and "Goodapus"...none of which are particularly interesting, evocative, or, well, fitting names for creatures. Any suggestions for how to go about naming creatures from anyone?

[LD]

>>I am the single worst namer of monsters ever. Right now I have "Handyeye" and "Nastysumbitch" and "Goodapus"...none of which are particularly interesting, evocative, or, well, fitting names for creatures. Any suggestions for how to go about naming creatures from anyone?

If pseudo-colloquialisms and portmanteaus are not your thing, then perhaps look to Latin, Greek, or other dead languages for inspiration.

As an aside; I wikipediaed portmanteaus and discovered that the wiki page is really interesting. Check out the Hebrew portmanteaus, for example. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau

[Xathan]

This large, sluglike creature moves with an uncanny grace, floating slightly above the ground. At the front of its face is a single, lidless eye, and from around the front of its body six tentacles stretch, each ending in another eye.

The Oulmul are among the worlds oldest beings, primordial creatures that once vied with the Aboleths in time immemorial - in fact, some scholar suggest that the Oulmul and Aboleths may share a common ancestry. Old beyond reckoning, the Oulmul are now consigned to the dark and distant places of the world - fetid jungles and swamps, damp underground caverns, and the deepest reaches of jungles. They believe themselves to be the rightful rulers of this world, and have powers that could make them such.

The Oulmul seek to be worshipped by "lesser beings" as they once were, and regard most intelligent life as Lesser. They only work together for brief periods of time, preferring a solitary existance, though they rarely oppose each other - they all have the same goal, to rule the world, and to oppose each other is to oppose the Great End. However, it is believed that whoever brings about the Great End and their rulership of the world will become the Ryloulmul, the Ruler of All, and that is a singular title, so they refuse to work together to achieve their goal - much to the thanks of lesser races.

Most Oulmul gather cults around themselves which they use to their purposes. Unlike other Aberrant creatures, whos power is psionic, the Oulmul are arcanists and accomplished in the art. Their favored tactic is to take their followers and stitch them together, giving the newly created beings life through their powers (samples provided below).

That alone would make the Oulmul dangerous enough, but they have another gift - their central eye absorbs magic, rendering its power useless and healing the Oulmul while their eye stalks - which function perfectly well as tentacles - each contain a single powerful spell they can use at will. What spells an individual Oulmul possesses varies between beings, although each one possesses at least one spell capable of overriding the minds of lesser beings, and another has a spell that can reshape flesh.

Aside from their cultists and their fleshstiched horrors, the Oulmul will make alliances with other Aberrant creatures which they collectively call the Elder Things. Aboleths, Ceremorphs, or any other being they regard as Elder are potential allies, for the Oulmul view things in the Long - such beings are powerful foes, but any war with them can be fought once the upstarts have been eradicated or enslaved. Liches or other powerful self-aware undead they also consider as allies - once a creature has achieved Undeath, it is of the Elder. Vampires are the exception to this rule - they are accidents in the Oulmul's many eyes, and their many weaknesses are too well known and too easily exploited. That's not to say the Oulmul will not war with other aberrant creatures, but it prefers to instead ally with them.

[ooc]If you can't guess, Oulmul are not intended to be an Aboleth ripoff - they are a Beholder ripoff, because the idea of powerful beings like beholders flying around is cool, but the appearance of the Beholders is just...I can't take them seriously. I'll add in some of the fleshwarped horors the Oulmul's create after the break, just thought I'd get that out there.[/ooc]

[ic=Adaptation]

If you want to use the Oulmul but remove the fanatsy flavor, take away the central eye's anti-magic property and make it absorb electricity (for sci-fi) or heat (for steampunk). Their extra eyes could be removed and replaced with mouths, or with pores that spit acid, or shoot bolts of lightning or darts coated in a hypnotic drug. The creatures could no longer fly, or they could hover due to nanomachines embedded in their bodies - or the addition of great, leathery, membranous wings. Their Horrors would be constructs of science a-la frankenstien in steampunk or genetics in more advanced sci-fi.[/ic]

Oulmul horrors:

Grasping Crawlers

This creature appears to be a bloated humanoid head with several faces supported from arms that extend from its sides.

Grasping Crawlers are among the simplist creations of the Oulmuls, a few humanoid heads melted together with arms stretched from their skulls. They are used primarily for abductions of new subjects, though if needed in battle each of their hands will be given a weapon to weild.

Twisted Seeker:

This being looks like two human torsos stuck together with only a single pair of legs. Where the head would be instead emerges two additional hands, each one with an eye imbedded in the palm.

The Twisted Brutes are spies and commanders, their four lower hands used to hold oversized weapons or shields.

[ooc]More to come later, but I think you get the idea.[/ooc]

　

[Seraph]

I am curious: If you can't take beholders seriously, how does making them slugs help?  Is it a "plausibility of physiology" thing?

[Xathan]

For some reason, the fact that it's not just a perfectly round cyclops head floating around is much more intimidating. And really, slug isn't the best word for the image in my head - sort of thicker slimy snake? But didn't want to use eel because then it just ends up looking exactly like a cyclops Aboleth with eye stalks that are also tentacles.