SPOILER ALERT: Lore Discussion

[Ceno]

Noticed a bit of an interesting trend while searching through my loottables (shameless plug). Prepare for a wall of text.

It seems that certain species of Chthonian enemies follow a particular naming structure unique to that species. This isn’t true for all of them, though.

Named Chthonian Harbinger Heroes (except for those like ~ Shielded, Defender, etc.) are suffixed with 'Daroth:

• Charn’Daroth
• Elnar’Daroth
• Fos’Daroth
• Ordran’Daroth
• Pulv’Daroth

Named Chthonian Leech Heroes (including generic archetypes) are suffixed with 'Anatu:

• Vom’Anatu
• Gawtok’Anatu
• Ekket’Anatu
• Orudin’Anatu ~ Diseased
• Yakwa’Anatu ~ Unstoppable

This is mostly it, however. There are what I call the Thels, though, among the Chthonian Fiends:

• Sen’Thel Voidbringer
• Nii’Thel ~ Bruiser

I don’t know whether this is just a case of Apophenia, but if it isn’t, there may be some interesting implications here for the naming scheme (or the lack thereof for other Chthonian species). I’ve got a couple theories. My theories make the most sense under the assumption that the void, as a physical entity, is Ch’thon himself (which is maybe confirmed? Dunno; I’ve forgotten if it was).

I think it could be that there’s a hierarchy among the individual Chthonian races based on their connection to Ch’thon, e.g., based on how they first spawned from the abyssal void. Chaotic creatures like Harbingers and Leeches seem rather detached from physical planes; Harbingers hover along without much effort and Leeches seem as though to directly suck blood from anywhere into the void. This perhaps suggests that they are a piece of the void itself, or - in other words - a piece of Ch’thon.

If that’s true, the numbers above get to me. 5 named 'Daroths, 5 named 'Anatus, and 2 named 'Thels. I was considering that perhaps the Daroths and Anatus are five fingers of a hand of Ch’thon, being that Ch’thon is at least vaguely humanoid (as evidenced in the Dying God constellation). Then perhaps the Thels are Ch’thon’s eyes? That’d at least explain why one of them has such an illustrious title like ‘Voidbringer’. I don’t think it’s too far fetched, given that Ch’thon’s very voice was capable of manifesting in the Loghorrean, but then again, these creatures emerged from the Void without a massive undertaking from the Cult of Ch’thon (at least, to our knowledge), so perhaps this connection is either nonexistent or merely a position of royalty (kind of like the Mouth of Sauron).

Regardless of what the significance of the numbers means, I’ve got one more concept to toy with, and that’s with the Chthonian species that are totally uniquely named within their kind -> Dreadguards, Defilers, and Devourers. Going back to the theory of Harbingers/Leeches being direct spawn of the void, I think these creatures had their genesis due to the void’s presence, but did not come from the void itself. That is to say, their species began in the presence of the void, but the void did not create them. I think there is more evidence backing this up.

The Chthonian Dreadguards are the brutal vanguard of Ch’thon’s infinite legions. Armed with weapons of war crafted from the Void itself and incapable of feeling pain, these hellish brutes cut an unstoppable swath of destruction across their enemies’ ranks.

But [Dreadguards] are not all just mindless beasts, hell-bent on annihilation. Deep in the darkest pits, there dwells a scheming creature of fire and shadow known as Shar’Zul. In its black domain, the demon plots the eradication of all life on Cairn, and the return of precious blood to its master, the Dead God Ch’thon.

I read three things from this, besides the obvious:

• Shar’zul is actually some ultra-badass that we’ve slain a bunch of times for loot, as to be expected.
• Dreadguards are capable of independent thought rather than being mindlessly controlled by Ch’thon.
• Shar’zul, and perhaps every Dreadguard, considers Ch’thon a ‘master’ but not necessarily a progenitor. If the void did not directly birth them but did allow for them to be birthed at all, this sort of respect for Ch’thon/the void is understandable.

There’s this to say about Chthonian Devourers:

Today, we’ll be diving back into the foreboding realm of the Void, where nightmarish abominations and failed creations lurk in the eternal night.

Below, you will find the Chthonian Devourer, an abomination aptly named for its insatiable propensity to consume anything and everything it comes across.

It seems as though the Devourer is a failure of biological genesis. It does not seem likely that the void itself failed to make something, as Ch’thon - being a god - has almost never demonstrated points of weakness or ineptitude in his craft. Rather, it seems that the ‘abomination’ that is a Devourer is a result of Ch’thon’s presence warping whichever plane he happens to inhabit. Not much more for me to say there, although perhaps you read something else into it. Regardless, again, Devourers do not seem to be mindless drones and - while acting on primal instinct - do seem to have some sort of free will, even if it coalesces with Ch’thon’s desires.

Finally, we see Defilers:

The void houses some of the most terrifying creations humans have ever had the misfortune of encountering. Among them is the gargantuan Obsidian Defiler. A Ch’thonic creature formed from the very material which makes up much of the Ch’thonian void, the Defiler is incredibly durable and brutally powerful.

While the Defiler’s purpose is unknown to us, it does seem as though the void does not passively make Defilers itself. Instead, they are weaved from whatever hellacious fabric makes up the abyssal realm of the Dead God.

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And that’s all I really got. I don’t really know what to read into Ryloks, as the snippet of lore we’ve gotten in Misadventure 110 is fairly vague:

For here, in the deepest reaches of depravity dwell the masters of this hellish realm.

Known only as Ryloks, these terrifying brutes wield the powers of the void as if it were a plaything. They thrive upon darkness and flame, upon misery and death. They are the overlords of this black realm […]

Yet even among the Ryloks, a sort of hierarchy has naturally formed. Most have become crippled by vicious competitions for power, their back limbs torn off in symbolism of defeat to their greaters. They now exist only to serve those Ryloks that proved to be the victors in these brutal displays and it is the triumphant terrors that you must be certain to avoid should you find yourself traversing the Void’s Edge.

My guess is that they are also not direct creations of Ch’thon, but they seem too powerful not to be. Before I had the above theories, I was considering Ryloks to essentially be the ‘lieutenants’ of Ch’thon (as, in the Shar’zul excerpt above, Ch’thon’s legions are described as ‘infinite’, so he could have as many lieutenants as he wants). This may still be the case, though for it to be true even still, it seems likely that Ryloks would have had to have known and served Ch’thon from before the creation of the void, which presumably happened around the time of Ch’thon’s betrayal and ‘death’. Ryloks seem to have independent thought, as demonstrated by their own hierarchy. We may well need to see their names to know for sure…assuming I’m correct, above, of course.

…

Well, eh, thoughts?