Evolution and Development

I'm kind of afraid of the sea. The impossible depths. The sheer magnitude and fury. Drowning. Sharks. But, that's not really the point of this entry.

Avremier has been evolving and developing for over 30 years. I've been asked quite a few questions about my creative processes and source of ideas. I'm not sure I have a "process" and my ideas come from everywhere - and sometimes, I believe, nowhere at all. To truly answer such queries, I'd have to share my notes. In fact, maybe I will.

As I compile and compose the Avremier Setting supplements, there is a lot of reference and research into my extensive archives. Though much effort has been spent in editing and organization, the volume of information is sometimes staggering - even to me...the guy that wrote it all. I tend to add more as thoughts and ideas come to me. Sometimes, I'll delete a line or two that no longer work. Mostly, I just add. And, add.

What follows is a direct copy+paste of my concept notes for something called a Charybdan. I could try to preface it here, but it will probably be just as pointless to give you the infodump. The creature will make its debut in the forthcoming Eldritch Avremier supplement (currently in progress). When it does. you can see for yourself how all these notes (and it is ALL of them) and ramblings were distilled and streamlined into something relevant and usable. Hopefully.

CHARYBDAN: Possibly the ultimate expression of the Shaukoru lines. Primordial aberration similar to a gibbering mouther. Able to devour anything. Can form a powerful whirlpool/whirlwind with maximized bite attacks. Charybdis > Dis > Dispater. Probable progenitors of the koru species, these are terrible monsters of voracious appetite and insatiable curiosity. A member of this species generally appears as a large chitinous globe of gnashing mouths, but is able to alter its general shape to suit its environment or needs. One default shape resembles a gibbering mouther with a gleaming exoskeleton, while another common form looks something like an armored roper or yochlol with lashing tentacles. In any shape, the charybdan is slate blue in color and has gleaming white teeth, has no visible eyes and is able to devour nearly anything with its numerous mouths. The creature has an odor similar to oily clay and can secrete a non-flammable mineral oil that is exceptionally slippery, acting as a grease spell. Any strike against a charybdan has a (yet undetermined) chance of hitting an open maw, which gives the creature an opportunity for an immediate bite against the item. Conversely, an attack by a charybdan will also inflict a bite attack, as a toothy maw may open on any part of the creature’s surface at any time. It is possible that a charybdan’s bite will ignore item hardness, at least up to 15 or 20. Hitting the creature’s mouth, and having the item devoured, inflicts no damage upon it. 

   A few moldering texts speak of the charybdans as the survivors of a Creation that died to birth the current one. It is written that these creatures cannot be truly destroyed - only contained. However, since they can consume just about anything, it remains to be seen what material is capable of confining a charybdan for any length of time. These same accounts claim that a charybdan may even devour space and time to open dimensional vortexes between the planes through which they may steal forth into the furthest reaches of the Vastness.

   Though the creature lacks visible eyes, it may perceive its surroundings by a variety of stimuli acquired through the absorption of energy wavelengths, sonic wavelengths, and changes in pressure as well as temperature. The charybdan’s body is formed of cells that each constitutes a complete organism and the genetic structure of the monster is enormously complex. This gives each cell all of the knowledge and essential traits of the entire organism and makes the charybdan practically immortal. Additionally, a charybdan may split itself into two distinct entities of equal size – both one size category smaller then the “parent.” This is a common maneuver attempted by the creature when it wishes to flank an opponent and the charybdan may rejoin separate parts of itself at will.

   The monster’s form is capable of enduring nearly any extreme of temperature, pressure, energy, or deprivation – allowing it to survive in a total vacuum or the heart of a star. It is theorized that surviving the destruction of an entire universe has given the charybdans a physiology that endures any punishment dealt by this one. Possibly, this fact could change if the Vastness underwent another catastrophic change, but none can say for certain.

   A charybdan may devour nearly anything and digests it all. They leave no waste behind and precious little survives consumption by these creatures. As a creature that consumes all and gives nothing in return, the charybdan lies firmly outside of the ecology of the Vastness and has always been an alien presence within the current Creation. For game purposes, the charybdans are certainly an epic-level threat – at the very least. It is thought that there are six charybdans in existence and that they lack any means of true reproduction. One charybdan seems to have spent a number of centuries in a meditative and largely inert state. It was thought to have been an exceptionally large bag of devouring, until it awoke and ate its way out of a hidden vault.

   Charybdans will probably have the earth subtype and the earth glide ability. It is thought that xorns and similar creatures are descended from the charybdans. The charybdans themselves are the progeny of the ancient creature known as Charybdis – spawn of the Effluvium. The Effluvium’s most ancient name is Charybdis – or simply Dis.

   The hideous abomination known as Charybdis is said to have spawned from the Effluvium – or could be a manifestation of the Effluvium itself. The Effluvium is a morass of dark and decayed planar energies that  forms a bottomless whirlpool at the center. It lies at the bottom of the Planar Axis and the whirlpool that drags everything within this benighted sewer leads below and beyond to…no one knows where. Perhaps to the true Charybdis. Perhaps it is the maw of Charybdis. Some planar scholars speculate that Erebus is somehow related to Charybdis – or that Erebus once devoured this entity in an age long past.