Terthinus and the Terrible New God of the Closing?

[aumshantih]

"Terthinus, the King of the Malasp merfolk, found a terrible new god at the bottom of the ocean floor. He took it back to his people, and fell worship was done to it. They prayed that all of the wealth of the air dwellers who skimmed across the surface of the seas would fall into their lands. This prayer was granted, after a fashion."

One of several parallel explanations on the Closing discovered by my Vithelan heroes, based on snippets in the Guide and "Men of the Sea".   

Any idea what it is?   A strange side effect of Zzabur's spell?   The sunken remnants of the Boat Planet?   Or something else entirely?

 

Edited April 21, 2021 by aumshantih

[jajagappa]

28 minutes ago, aumshantih said:

Any idea what it is?   A strange side effect of Zzabur's spell?   The sunken remnants of the Boat Planet?   Or something else entirely?

Maybe Zzabur's spell lifted the veil of the Deep from Drospoly or Varchulunga, freeing one of the deep water gods and their monsters.

[Eff]

My thought: without the Boat Planet to stir the seas and keep the currents going in their ordinary courses, various abyssal currents were freed, taking the sea from a horizontal circulation to an up-and-down circulation. Terthinus discovered one of these currents and worshiped it, so that it would suck things down for them to feed off of. (The catch was that they had to deal with the things it pulled up...)

This might be related to the mysterious other parent of the Gnydron- a Vadruding dragged down to the deeps of the sea, a wind that circulates up and down. Or it may be a peculiar shape- if a typical current is a serpentine dragon of the sea, perhaps this current is a tsuchinoko or hoop snake. Or maybe just a sidewinder.

[soltakss]

Maybe a weapon, a child of Robber, so a net than drags ships to the bottom of the sea.

A whirlpool, opening up beneath ships.

A hole in the water, causing ships to fall into the depths below.

Stagnant, still water that stops ships in their tracks, causing the crew to starve to death.

Death that causes a ship's crew to fight among themselves until the only survivor jumps to their death into the water.

 

 

[Darius West]

I am betting it is some sort of Tsunami deity.  A child of Maran Gor (Earthquake) and Magasta (Ocean) perhaps?  They're both powerful and deeply unpleasant deities and their offspring would be a cataclysm.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Darius West

[EricW]

Gloom shark? Lusting after wealth seems awfully hungry to me. "terrible new god" doesn't necessarily mean the god was new, possibly just new to the Merfolk. Or perhaps a new hero cult. A fell pact with the chaos god of hunger, that the god could feast on the bodies and souls of the sailors, just leave the treasure for the merfolk.

This also raises questions about the opening. Who exactly is the secretive ceremony conducted by sailors propitiating?  They may be re-enacting a heroic quest to break the pact. Or they could be joining the fell pact, preserving themselves at the expense of anyone else who takes to the sea, satisfying their own hunger through imposing a monopoly on sea faring. Or both types of sailors could be plying the seas - those who overcome chaos, and those who propitiate chaos.

Edited April 23, 2021 by EricW

[Hijabg]

On 4/21/2021 at 2:59 PM, aumshantih said:

found a terrible new god at the bottom of the ocean floor.

That's a recurring theme in Sandy Petersen's work isn't it ?

I really like the Gloomshark idea. I think it fits really well. And it has tentacles ringing its mouth...

Edited April 24, 2021 by Hijabg

[jajagappa]

On 4/21/2021 at 2:59 PM, aumshantih said:

Any idea what it is?   A strange side effect of Zzabur's spell?   The sunken remnants of the Boat Planet?   Or something else entirely?

Of course, if you draw on Sandy Petersen's The Gods War it might be the Leviathan finally rising again from some unknown depths.

[Pentallion]

It could be that giant walktapi guy mentioned in the East Isles.....ka...ka...*Cthulhu*..excuse me.  Had to sneeze.