Drawlloween II: 23 Eldritch Horror by DarkmasterN on DeviantArt (original) (raw)
Today we have something very special.
Today we have a Shoggoth.
Unlike with the others, I can't tell you ALL of the lore on them because some of that needs to be saved for Slightly Above Average in the future! But for now, I'll tell you some of the things you need to know about these protoplasmic nightmares!
Shoggoths are an ancient protoplasmic race of servant creatures created by the Elder Things after they arrived on a primordial earth in prehistoric times. The Elder things used the young life on this planet to begin crafting their own, taking genetic samples from every creature they could locate. Several primitive species, such as the Voormis had existed on Earth at this time, as did other various hairy humanoids, and the more advanced Serpentfolk. While they were exploring the planet, it came to their attention that other intelligent species had set their eyes on earth during this time as well. The Mi-go, hailing from the far flung planet of the Solar System known as Yuggoth landed on the planet during their scientific missions, and the fair folk of the primal forests had begin emerging and claiming the lands. Angels and Celestials also existed at this time, surveying earth and learning of the planet's physical makeup, and the Great Race of Yith had also visited during this time to learn about the Solar System's growing ecosystem as well as to why so many creatures were flocking to this planet. The Braxxie visited as well, though keeping away and not interacting with others. Finally a race of creatures from Mars had also investigated the planet, seeing as how it seemed to be calling creatures to it through strange energy signatures, and similarly to the great race, they wondered why so many creatures would be drawn to such a planet. The Elder Things began waging violent wars on each of the creatures, and many battled against one another for supremacy. The battles were long and violent with many dying, however all sides seemed to be quite capable and some were more willing to fight than others. In the end, the Elder things were able to fight off a large number of these creatures, though with the Arrival of the Great Cthulhu, high priest of Azathoth, and his army of star spawn, most of the creatures were greatly disadvantaged and scattered.
The Elder things had created shoggoths as a servitor race to lift large slabs of stone and metal for them to build their structures and kingdoms, and to protect them from all harm. They were quite capable, the undulating masses of protoplasmic flesh and violence, and their near mindless forms with the desire to follow commands made them very useful during these conflicts. However now they needed to create something stronger and more capable to deal with Cthulhu's army, and so they turned to dark magic and other strange genetics to empower their shoggoths and grant them new abilities... it's believed that during this time they accidentally created the progenitor of man, the father of the Nephilim, crafted from the bodies of angels, a creature to surpass others. With these new shoggoths they defeated Cthulhu's armies and called fourth a powerful entity to crush their foe, which arrived in the form of a meteor which struck the great Cthulhu and mortally wounded him for millions of years.
After their victory, the Shoggoths began to grow more intelligent, and began fighting against the Elder things, a fight which the Elder things tried to succeed in by setting off a powerful bomb, however some survived and most of the Elder things did not so they went into hibernation, and allowed the surviving shoggoths to patrol and protect the arctic base as it fell into obscurity.
Shoggoths are enormous creatures, as large as a subway car, that have a myriad of tentacles, eyes, mouths, noses, arms, legs, and claws which constantly form and unform in their undulating mass. They can also form beaks, and tails, and can generally take on whatever shape they would like, though only in localized parts of their bodies as they don't have enough mental capacity or control over their entire bodies to transform completely, though they could create repeating patterns on themselves. These various parts will fall off and be re-absorbed, or sink back in to the mas as if it were in water and be reconstituted into another limb, and they often make these parts for whatever situation they are in. These limbs can represent or look identical to that of another creature that may be in existence for a moment, or maybe even take on it's qualities, though usually distorted and wrong. They usually can't maintain a single body part for longer than a few minutes at a time, and even then the limb is most likely constantly growing mouths, eyes, or fingers, and though it could theoretically grow wings, it wouldn't be able to fly with them because of this. Shoggoths are known for decapitation, and either bite the head off or simply engulf the creature and create suction that sucks it off of their body. They release a horrid piping noise which sounds like "Tekeli-li!" and it seems to strike fear into those that hear it coming, and the closer they get the more horrid and unnatural the sounds become, causing an increasing madness within the creature.
Shoggoths are very quick, able to move about as fast as a modern car in short bursts, and they can slip under very small cracks despite their massive size. They can also flatten themselves out over a large area and hang on ceilings and places where they usually would be too heavy by distributing their weight. They are immune to extreme temperatures such as the cold and heat, and they possess both lungs and gills and are very adept within the water. Since the Elder things have been gone, some Shoggoths have continued their mindless work, repairing and maintaining their bases, while some have gone off in search of more and exist within sewer systems or other far flung reaches of the world. A few, whom were given the genetics of great old ones, or other cosmic beings, are more intelligent and can utilize strange magics on their enemies, and tend to be the most horrifying of shoggoths due to their ability to possibly maintain their forms to a degree and blend in with people.
On Urth, the Elder things had also fled there during the ancient wars, using technology taken from the Braxxie, and they had taken part in the Gods war as well, but mostly decided to steer clear. They still hide within areas of the Urth, with their shoggoths protecting their various outposts, and they observe the creatures of this other dimension. Some of their shoggoths have gone rogue as they and the shoggoths are both prone to the corruption in the world and and may become more chaotic and violent, with some elder things becoming akin to serial killers and some shoggoths reaching mountainous sizes, or losing their minds completely and destroying and integrating any living thing that slithers their way. It is believed that in some of the locations where the Elder things had fallen, and been slain by powerful beasts, that the Goblins had taken over and perhaps learned their strange, eldritch alchemy from them and that the Gibbering mouthers are closely related to Shoggoths because of this.
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Want more Shoggoth? Read Slightly above average!
Want more Lovecraftian horrors, or ancient creatures?
Hey! It's a Laila! XD
I realized that despite how often I've drawn her I've never drawn just a normal shoggoth on here really and thought that needed to change. SO. Here you are! Laila's ass in all of it's untransformed glory. XD
I wonder how many combinations of eyes, mouths, and limbs I've drawn over the years....
Construct
Aberration
Humanoid
Monstrous Humanoid
Shapechanger
Ooze
Giant
Undead
Fey
Outsider (Chaos)
Dragon
Animal
Magical Beast
Outsider (Law)
Plant
Vermin
Angel
Demon
Qliphoth
Elemental
Elf
Goblin
Eldritch Horror
Great Old One
Cleric
Hag
Cryptid
Urban Legend
Myth
Sci-Fi
H A L L O W E E N