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Jermyn, Horrors and Xau-Tak.

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Big Storms

Big Storms

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Now I'd like the make a jump based on the manner at which Xau-Tak affects his followers.
Because the above boils down to one thing: control. So an interesting possibility dawned me: does Xau-Tak share a relation with Zaros?
This is where things start to get interesting: we know that Seren cast away some of her darker parts which ended up becoming the Dark Lord. Would it then not be reasonable to think Zaros can do the same. In terms of motive we do not have to search far: Zaros is not too fond of his "ability" to compel others into doing his bidding.

(Zaros in regards to his power)
"It is not something I have control of – it is something that was done to me by Mah. I am unable to rid myself of this... ability, but I must live with it."


and

"Yes. It is one of the reasons I chose to withdraw from my own empire. I find the idea of coercing another mind to be... distasteful."


Read the above carefully, and you might notice something important: I am unable to rid myself of this... ability . We are talking about Zaros, a god who strifes for seemingly impossible feats: creating life akin to the elder gods, joining their rank, saving the Illujanka. And here he says he is incapable of changing himself. Doesn't that mean he has at least gone through some attempts?

Soo... what if: Zaros at one point of his eons of travel came to find the world of Jermyn and, in an attempt to rid himself of his ability to incite unquestionable obedience in his followers, tried to cast away part of himself in that very lake. Only to then become what we now know as Xau-Tak, a being that feeds himself on followers which get trapped in its influence.

Now that would be one hell of an origin of Xau-Tak and would make him all the more dangerous. I can think of quite a few ways how this can be incorporated in future storylines. Then again it is just a theory :P "One should not mindlessly follow gods or the godless:
follow
your
own
path
"
~Big Storms

13-Mar-2018 10:24:59 - Last edited on 13-Mar-2018 10:26:13 by Big Storms

Zulkir

Zulkir

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@Big Storms

What you're suggesting is Zaros tried to rid himself of a controlling aura that somehow gained physical form, enough to become a deity able to seed its ominus messages through time itself and even somehow learn our name and communicate it to us through unknown incomprehensable means.

I'm a big fan of Zaros and think he can do some incredible things, but I don't think him trying to rid himself of an ability, not even as aspect of his personality, would spawn that unholy unmentionable thing

I wouldn't want Xau-Tak to have any connection to Zaros anyway, I'm already worried the Queen of Ashes is just Elidnis in her special veil I don't want another new characters origins to be revealed as being apart of Zaros, a character we're already now familiar with.
Zarosian Lorehound

Master Questcape Owner

Inconsistent Completionist

13-Mar-2018 13:48:22 - Last edited on 13-Mar-2018 13:51:20 by Zulkir

Big Storms

Big Storms

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Well we are talking about a direct product of an elder god splitting part of himself that he deems to contain all his negative aspects, including the ability to incite unquestionable obedience. Zaros, whose morale can be questioned even now.

And yes, of course Zaros would not have been able to get rid of this ability of his, but that wouldn't have stopp[ed him from trying would it? I mean look at how stubborn he is when it comes to creating life, what crimes he has committed in his attempts to achieve this.
We also know that Zaros his actual body is crystalline akin to Seren's, so splitting off part of himself in the form of a shard is very much possible. Not only that, but that would even explain the black rocks as corrupted shards of Zaros. The same can be said about the rock structure that is used to describe the hands of Xau-Tak.

All in seeing that lake as a divine waste site where zaros has dumped part of himself, particularly his negative site, sounds like a recipe to indeed create something horrible beyond comprehension. I'll admit that the creepy ability of sending messages through time is not explained by this, but who knows what is possible with a divine entity that directly relates to the elder gods?

I personally like how this connects Xau-Tak more to the rest of the lore, without even going through any hoops. It does not have to be true, but in my mind I already created a universe where this is what happened. Where, after Zaros was denied eldergodhood (Sliske's Endgame), he (perhaps after using the essence of Mah as well) chose to trick the world guardian into defeating Xau-Tak (with his aid), only to merge with it again and become pretty much the apocalypse incarnate, destroying the Elder Gods, stopping the Great Revision cycle and creating an universe of pure darkness (ha..haha.hahaha..HAHahaHAHAH!!! >= D)

Then again this is just my mind wandering... "One should not mindlessly follow gods or the godless:
follow
your
own
path
"
~Big Storms

13-Mar-2018 14:27:16 - Last edited on 13-Mar-2018 14:29:56 by Big Storms

Goldmage162
Oct Member 2009

Goldmage162

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Wahisietel said :


Jermyn/Bonobia is Marimbo's home planet, first talked about back in the Cabbage Facepunch event.

While certinantly plausible, we don't know that for a fact...Marimbo herself said she didn't remember the name of the planet, so really all we know is that both came from a world with large apes in a jungle.

The God who invades the jungles in the new horror journals doesn't exactly sound like the God of hedonism Marimbo described outdrinking, though of course her memory and knowledge of the event isn't exactly the best in the first place, and we know nothing of the "someone" who told her he was a hedonistic god in the first place.

Tuska certinantly is heavily hinted at, except she wouldn't really be using a horn, though I suppose it could be carried by a follower.

The airut (assuming they were with her and not with Skargaroth - is he tusked at all?) could be described as monkey-like, but then so could any humanoid species, so that's not much of a lead...


Also, the Mwana believing Xua-Tac created them doesn't mean Xua-Tac actually did. If you're really tied to the idea of Xua-tac having a creative influence on them, you could just say he granted them sentience.

13-Mar-2018 14:58:23

Uncle Harper
Jul Member 2015

Uncle Harper

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The invader god from the journals does sound a lot like Tuska.

Let's assume (Raven forgive me) that Xau did create the Mwanu. This would be the first instance of a god creating sentient life on purpose. This would go against the elders who see life as a mistake (could Xau be responsible for all life?). Xau can then be seen as the anti-god. Other actions would suggest that he wishes to undo the elders as well. MORE ASSUMPTIONS!
1. If he is the parasite Guthix described on remark that is consuming anima, he would be doing so to limit anima available for the Elders.
2. Mah was damaged by something corrupting her core while she was still slumbering. May not have been Xau but there could be a case for it if he wishes to further rid the cosmos of the elder sisters.
3. If Tuska did attack Jermyn, Tuska is a anima devourer. The Mwanu describe their god as turning against them when the invader arrived. Xau likely wouldn't mind Tuska munching up anima as again, that's less for the elders.
4. The world guardian has to prove to the elders that life isnt a mistake and should go on existing. What better way to do that than to take down the unseen nemesis of the elders? Xau has been cursing our name through the ages for some reason after all.
4b. Do you really think you can save "them", world guardian? Could them be something other than other mortals? Could the "them" in this question be the elder sisters? Xau can revive and kill mortals pretty effectively it seems. Why would he care about our actions with mortals? "Them" must be something much more grand to have created a beyond space/time hate against the world guardian. I have seen the dark universe yawning, where the black planets roll without aim;
Where they roll in their horror unheeded, without knowledge or lustre or name.

13-Mar-2018 15:31:50

Solmestix
Aug Member 2020

Solmestix

Posts: 477 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Mod Raven said :
Some interesting assumptions here, some of which are stated as facts, so be careful with your theories here. ;)

I'll help out a bit.

1. Naragun and Jermyn are not the same place.
2. Not all religious beliefs represent literal physical beings.
3. A LOT of time passes between some of the journals.

Hope this helps the discussion a bit. :)

= Raven =

God Raven posted on my thread... I'm honoured, Supreme Overlord.

But anyways, so does this mean either Xau-Tak or his 'Lesser Deities' are not physical? (Wait now im thinking about the 6th elder god thing again) and i did assume some time had passed, as the Mwanu appeared to be writing-capable, and could speak, but now they cannot. Seems to me Xau-Tak made them his grunting, ritualistic followers...

13-Mar-2018 15:45:08 - Last edited on 13-Mar-2018 15:49:36 by Solmestix

Solmestix
Aug Member 2020

Solmestix

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Goldmage162 said :
Wahisietel said :


Jermyn/Bonobia is Marimbo's home planet, first talked about back in the Cabbage Facepunch event.

While certinantly plausible, we don't know that for a fact...Marimbo herself said she didn't remember the name of the planet, so really all we know is that both came from a world with large apes in a jungle.

The God who invades the jungles in the new horror journals doesn't exactly sound like the God of hedonism Marimbo described outdrinking, though of course her memory and knowledge of the event isn't exactly the best in the first place, and we know nothing of the "someone" who told her he was a hedonistic god in the first place.

Tuska certinantly is heavily hinted at, except she wouldn't really be using a horn, though I suppose it could be carried by a follower.

The airut (assuming they were with her and not with Skargaroth - is he tusked at all?) could be described as monkey-like, but then so could any humanoid species, so that's not much of a lead...


Also, the Mwana believing Xua-Tac created them doesn't mean Xua-Tac actually did. If you're really tied to the idea of Xua-tac having a creative influence on them, you could just say he granted them sentience.

If Xau-Tak (note the spelling) gave the Mwanu sentience, then he'd need to be at least Tier 2/3, considering Zaros was able to make Sentient creatures such as Nex and the Nihil, so maybe instead of 'creating' per se... Xau-Tak EDITED the Apes of Jermyn into Horrors, so they were his own beings. And the Mwanu seeing this as the first creation could just be an egotistical thing.

13-Mar-2018 15:53:57

Gamez X
Sep Member 2014

Gamez X

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Hmm interesting, so jermyn is indeed a new place. Still possible it could be a moon but putting that aside for now, that leaves the most likely candidates being the body rune planet or the death rune planet. As i said before the mention of a giants homeworld in the recent survey very much sounds like the body rune planet to me so i'm now going with the idea jermyn in the death rune planet. This would put it on the wen path so we can assume a mostly water world (the corpse oceans) with scattered land masses of thick dark jungles, and multiple suns. Does mean i'll have to figure something out about where the home of the araxytes and the miasma world that the riftsplitter demon opens to are (i had assumed the death plane cus death being poison/venom) but i'll work something out

I didnt think of xau tak being connected to zaros before, i had always assumed they where just doing a mostly self contained lovecraftian creature. Given that the ice world leng is also a place named in lovecraftian novels i am still certain xau tak originally comes from there, meaning he would likely be from the old universe which would explain his dark and mysteriousness

Raven saying "dont take things as literal physical beings" just makes me think more of zaros's line "the 6th elder being of something... else", especially with this book implying he was creating life at the beginning just like an elder

All in all i just hope you use this opportunity right and dont waste it! Xau tak is a very clear candidate for the next big bad after sliske and its a real shame you didnt do the ambassador for this. Imagine a xau tak themed boss released right after the end of the pirate finale, could of been an epic xau tak themed month but nope, wasted opportunity cus 1 artist wanted to draw a tree instead and made a vorago clone...

Raven if your still reading here, DO NOT let the ambassador be scrapped, we still want more xau tak stuff including that boss!

13-Mar-2018 16:51:18

Hguoh

Hguoh

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Uncle Harper said :
The invader god from the journals does sound a lot like Tuska.

Superficially, sure, a great beast of tusk and fury sounds a lot like Tuska, but there are a number of details that make this really unlikely.

1. The beast was armed with a horn that turned the jungle against the Mwanu. The description of this horn fits what we know of the elder horn very well (it was used to control sea monsters on Gielinor and the elder gods initially used it to communicate and command the TokHaar, just like this beast used it to control the jungle). This, in turn, meshes very well with what we know of Marimbo's ascension, given that the god who diedin her story used sparkly drinking horn, but it doesn't mesh well with what we know of Tuska (who we've never heard of using a weapon).

At best, this could describe an Airut Shaman using such a horn to control the jungle (just like one on Mazcab turned avatars of anima (like Yakamaru) against the goebies).

2. The monkeys of the plane gathered under the banner of the beast. From prior stories, we know that the Airut didn't take allies. Instead, they killed the natives of any planes they invaded. So if the beast was Tuska and the Airut were already with her by this point (as they'd need to be to control the jungle as described), the monkeys couldn't have allied with her.

However, I could easily see a god that likes to party taking the time to remove an oppressive, no-fun race from power.

3. The monkeys renamed the world. As Tuska leaves the worlds she visits decimated, such name changes are only necessary if, and only if, the denizens can scrape together a method to sustain some amount of life on their plane (like the goebies did). For some reason, I doubt that the monkeys had the technical prowess to stabilize their plane's residual anima like the goebies did.

13-Mar-2018 18:42:55

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