Re: Multi-Player After Action Report ("Who are YOU cheering for?")
From the notes of George Gammell Angell, Professor Emeritus of Semitic Languages at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
Fragment IV.a
The Aboleth - Physiology
Though sometimes described as eel-like, the aboleth as commonly pictured has a closer resemblance to the rattail fishes of the family Macrouridae, the most common benthic fish of the deep sea. However, despite some superficial similarities, the aboleth follows a fundamentally different bauplan.
One obvious deviation is the vertical instead of horizontal arrangement of the aboleth's eyes, which in turn are able to perceive light both above and beyond the human-visible spectrum. It is a persevering misconception that aboleths enslave Merman mages for the purpose of observing the heavens from above the waves -- they are perfectly capable of seeing the stars even from the bottom of the sea. They simply prefer to employ slaves for routine tasks.
The aboleth possesses severel more sensory organs: a sophisticated hearing system distributed over their body that is relatively ill-suited for usage on land -- its strengths are the low frequencies of chtonic disturbances and far-traveling sea noises.
Along its side the aboleth is equipped with a strange ichtyid organ that perceives electrical charges and which also only functions when submerged.
The characteristic barbel-tentacles on the aboleth's head, apart from their function in immobilizing larger prey and draining its life force, are in addition sensory organs able to detect vital energy and mental activity.
end of fragment
Fragment V.c
Ontogeny and Society
The aboleth species is characterized by an extreme sexual diorphism: The females are immobile coral-like growths that spew forth a flood of young aboleth spawn with unbelievable fecundity. These are the elder aboleths' preferred source of nourishment, and are in turn provided with the bodies of mentally lobotomized sea creatures to feed upon.
Male aboleths' lifespans are measured in millenia, the female polypal colonies grow older by several orders of magnitude. They are however afflicted with long periods of dormancy, during which they do not create any new young. What causes these strange jubilees is unknown, save there seems to be an influence of certain constellations and a role played by the unspeakable rites performed in the vile so-called temples of this ancient race.
The young aboleth's scales are quite hard at the time of leaving the maternal polyp, and it yet lacks any power over the minds of others or, indeed, any powers of higher reasoning. A cowardly creature, it prefers to feed on carrion or prey rendered helpless by its elders' mental powers.
After about a millenium, the spawn has grown enough to be about one and a half man's length from snout to tail and has developed a rudimentary sentience, although yet incapable of communicating meaningfully with other intelligences. The telepathic ability is rudimentary in complexity yet powerful in projection: the monstrous fish-thing is capable of what is among cognoscenti known as a “mindblast”, a stunning and even immobilizing psychic attack. In this phase of its life, it is called a giboleth.
Some giboleth develop an exceptionally close mental tie with the polypal mothers -- these are known as gibodai and develop the ability to drain and store life force, which they then provide to the coral growth. Their mental and physical growth is forever stunted, yet they are treated with uncharacteristic deference by the larger and more powerful aboleths.
In the Black Tablets of Hathat, the giboleth/gibodai stage is compared human puberty, or “a young man newly taken to the spear”. There may be some sense to that, for it is in a mere one or two centuries that it achieves the ability to express itself fluently, comprehend and apply the occult principles of stellar and aquatic power, as well as develop a life-draining ability akin to that of the gibodai. At this stage in its life it may correctly be called an aboleth. It has grown even larger, but has shed most of its hard scales, leaving its skin covered with a slimy mucus.
fragment ends
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