Wherein your humble scribe presents a Barbarians of Lemuria character he put together as an NPC in his slowly-developing Lovecraftian fantasy setting, Nogoloth.
A professor at Canton-on-Imisk University, Milam Ryde is a fearless explorer and talented cartographer. Professor Ryde has made the study of the lesser-known regions of Nogoloth (and the uninhabited islands nearby) his academic focus. He has led several expeditions into the unknown and has brought back numerous strange artifacts and bizarre biological samples many of which are on display in CU’s Dhawd Museum. That he frequently returns with fewer companions than he set out with is well-known. Some of the less scrupulous faculty occasionally encourage their more intellectually advanced students to join on with Ryde’s expeditions. That these academics then publish papers based on their vanished charges’ research is something of an open secret.
Essences
Lifeblood 11
Hero Points 3
Attributes
Strength 1
Agility 1
Mind 1
Appeal 1
Combat
Brawl 0
Melee 2
Ranged 0
Defense 2
Careers
Scholar 2
Alchemist 1
Sailor 1
Physician 0
Boons
Learned: Geography
Born Sailor
Attractive
Flaws
Feels the Cold
Languages
Nogolothian, Ancient Khaarmish, Low Speech, Star Tongue Of The Elds
Equipment
Axe, 1d6+1
Very Light Armor (d3-1)
He’s missing something: a fedora and a whip…
You know, I wondered who was going to be the one to chime in with this 🙂
But would you believe that Dr. Jones is only a secondary inspiration for this guy? The primary inspiration (and note, I’m talking inspiration, not actual target for copying) is a little closer to the source. The key is in the last name, anagramatically speaking.
Speaking of anagrams, Canton-on-Imisk sounds a lot like . . . okay, now I get it.
What’s the general tech-level in Nogoloth? It sounds like it might be around late middle ages/early renaissance.
I hope the anagram solution doesn’t lessen your opinion of Nogoloth any, G-Man…
Tech-level? Hmm, I hadn’t really settled on anything specific, but late medieval to early renaissance seems about right. Pre-gunpowder – as I always prefer my fantasy – is the only thing I’d really consciously decided upon.
I love anagrams! It diminishes my passion for Nogoloth not one whit! (Spell Saval Krael backwards–it’s one letter off from a Fritz Leiber character in a particular Fafhrd and Gray Mouser story I’ve always loved . . .)
Another question about Nogoloth: it has saints and other deities besides the Great Old Ones, right? Benevolent, too? I ask because in some Dark Fantasy/Lovecraft settings it is explicitly stated that non-mythos gods don’t exist, and ‘all clerics are insane cultists’.
*Whew* I was afraid that once the curtain had been pulled back the Nogolothian passion would evaporate! 🙂
In my mind the “good” gods & saints of Nogoloth are not a settled bit of theology at this point. A couple of the characters presented have been “clerics” of one sort or another (Jerald Istholam, Othoghu, and Tor Carran), but the only one who could really be considered to be tied to something other than the Great Old Ones is Istholam, and I’ve even kept that purposefully vague.
That said, I’m inclined to have the “good” gods exist on some level, though, I think. They just don’t interact with the world in the way that the GOOs do. This actually reinforces using BoL as the rule system to drive Nogoloth, since as of the Legendary Edition priests don’t cast spells or have those kinds of power.
The “all clerics are insane cultists” style of Dark Fantasy borders on too dark for me, I think. For the darkness to be truly effective there has to be a little bit of light to be menaced. That’s how I see it right now, anyway 🙂
You’ve gotta have some light amid the darkness that is the setting, I guess…
Was it Clarke Aston Smith’s setting that had all gods derived from two figured? One evil and chaotic the other good and law driven? But with hundreds of different interpretations of each?
Like: the bad god brings madness and hate but also inspires soldiers in battle, while the god one brings healing but also jealousy, etc.
So you’d worship both equally
You know, this is the sad point of the night when I have to confess I’ve never actually read any CAS. I know, I know – I’m a loser! But I’ve got the two recent-ish Bison Press compilations sitting on the shelf waiting for me (thanks to that recent Living Social/Amazon deal) but I’m still knee-deep in Lovecraft at the moment.
I love the idea you mention, though, Gobbo. And it sounds like a CAS thing from everything I’ve ever heard about his work. If someone else doesn’t chime in and confirm or deny I’ll try to remember to once I get to reading the man’s work.