Whispers from a Darkness- A Lovecraft-Inspired Idoneth Deepkin Painting Blog

[S133arcanite]

 

      "Beneath the waves, an evil lies,

And in strange aeons it too shall rise."

-  The Tenebranomicon

~~~

             One wintery day amongst the trees and underbrush of a quaint woodland, I, by chance,
happened upon a strange and pagan altar, upon which rested an idol that would befoul e’en the most
hallowed of places.

             The place was in a state of disrepair, having, I find myself doubting not at all, lied in that
woodland for many years without the touch of man. Two tall totems, upon which hung necklaces of
feathers and the skulls of small mammals and birds, stood at a man’s height as the temple’s entrance.

             Having walked through the unholy entrance, I came upon a small building. Like a staired pyramid in
form, the temple was roughly three metres tall. There was a doorway, made of the same stone- the
stone! The stone out of which this tetrahedral temple was carved was not of this earth, no. It was a
musty, ancient yellow (although whether this was the product of age I am unsure) and hard, yet, upon
closer inspection, seemed to be made up of fine grains of sand. At first I thought it sandstone, yet
there was an un-named, un-nameable attribute of this sandstone that was simply unearthly.

             Alas, I digress. The doorway, made of that same extra-phenomenal stone, hung ajar. And
good luck too, for if it were closed then I doubt I would be able to open it: it was perhaps half a metre
thick. The inside was small, but large enough to hold the altar itself and a maximum of three other
people. Along the walls, torches hung, full of ash. In the winter, as it was now, and at night, this
temple must’ve got frightfully cold; although, I doubt that those frequenting this hellish place gave
much regard to such mortal matters as heat.

              In the centre of the temple lay the altar around which the rest was built: shaped like a goblet,
the altar was built to contain a liquid. I was, as one will no doubt imagine, shocked, to find that within
this altar there was, still, a liquid. Grown stagnant over countless years, dead leaves and roots, and the
corpses of insects and flies, floated in the thick, grey sludge. T’was so foul, indeed, that I was
abhorred to touch it, for I felt that some… cosmic malignancy dwelt in that liquid.

              I was not far off; above me, even as I knelt over to gaze at the sludge, there hung the idol of
which I have been so terrified. It hung, suspended from the arms by two thin metal chains, from the
pyramidic ceiling. It was roughly humanoid in figure, but with a strange and disgusting taint upon its
head. For instead of the roughly circular and cerebral head of a man, it bore the head of some, gross
mulloscoid. Its mouth was a writhing mass of tentacles and feelers, and the back of the head was
distortedly oblong. It was wearing metal armour that was ornate yet looked cruel in design: the
armour’s shoulders ended in sharp let elegant spikes, as did the elbows, greaves and kneecaps.
Around the abomination’s waste there was tied a leather belt, and a sword, curved and serrated, like
the teeth of a deep sea beast, hung upon it.

             Soon I continued looking around this quaint temple. It felt like merely a few minutes that I stayed in
that abode; in fact, it was several hours. After what must have been half an hour of searching
(although it felt like nought but a few seconds), I came upon a strange tome that was kept in a wooden
chest. Bound by a leather rope clockwise, this book seemed to contain a lexicographer’s (amongst
whose ranks I count myself) treasure trove of forbidden lore. The writing on the front was in some
alien text, the like of which I have never seen in all my years. It was in a deeply dark crimson, and,
although I had neither means nor opportunity to even attempt to decipher it, I somehow knew what it
said. Like a hark-back to a strange primeval language to which all mortals are heir to, I knew what the
writing said deep within my subconscious. As soon as I glanced at it, I read it as if it were my own
native tongue. It said:

 

THE TENEBRANOMICON

 

      Which was followed, immediately and unexplainedly, by this strange couplet:

 

 BENEATH THE WAVES AN EVIL LIES

AND IN STRANGE AEONS IT TOO SHALL RISE

 

             What struck me first was that the couplet rhymed. I felt sure, now, that this script was an
ancient and primordial tongue, and I have little doubt that in whatever language one happened to
speak, the writing upon this accursed book would be the same.
Upon dwelling on this message, I felt myself irrationally terrified beyond comprehension. At
once, I felt both horrified and eager. I suddenly found myself unwinding the leather cover. As if
moved by an otherworldly presence, my hand moved and unwound the rope that bound the book; yet,
even as I did so, I became so spiritually scared that I began to cry and scream in sheer terror!
And even so, I unbound the leather cover and opened THE TENEBRANOMICON. As soon
as I gazed upon those ancient pages (which were, as one has no doubt guessed, written in the same
script as the cover), however, I was eager and ravished for the forbidden and heathen knowledge
within.
              The book spoke of many things. It spoke of the strange anthropoid that hung from the ceiling
above me. It spoke of their entrance to this realm, and their dreadful birth; of how they were extracted
from a captured god by a judgemental saviour, who discarded them once he saw their true fate. It
spoke of their escape to the deeps. It spoke of their endless search for souls, to fill their soulless
hearts. It spoke of the dreadful cults that worship them, and how they exist in every city in every
kingdom in the cosmos. It spoke of the goal of their endless conquest for souls, and of the dark and
majestic fate they had in store for all of life.
             At this I shut the haunted and perverted and cast it out from my hand. Yet, when I dropped
that dust-encrusted book, my mind was filled with images which were not my own. As the
TENEBRANOMICON slipped from my hand, I barrage of visions swarmed my head like a tide. I
saw, at first, nothing but darkness. I saw the cosmos being born into existence, I saw the creation of
stars, and the birth of creatures of enormous size. I saw, through eyes that were not my own, rituals
carried out by barbaric cults, ranging from the sacrifice of lambs and sheep, to the consummation of
human flesh.
             One particularly savage ritual, whose image will remain with me for all of time, was as
followed. About an altar, not unlike the one I was in, a group of men gathered. They wore dark
clothes, and their pale flesh was tattooed beyond recognition. The tattoos wound up and down their
flesh like serpents, until they reached their eyes, where they circled. And their eyes… their eyes!
Their eyes were but bloody holes, as if their eyes had been plucked out in some gruesome ritual not
unlike the one I gazed at now.
             The cultists danced around the altar in some savage dance, twirling their blades in unison with
one another, surrounding the altar. Standing atop the altar there was a creature, similar to the
abhorrent creature depicted in the idle hanging above me. He was holding a quill and a piece of
parchment, and seemed to be simultaneously writing, and reading out scripture from the parchment as
if in prayer. The strangest thing about him (or it) was the animal by his side: an octopus-like creature
hovered beside him. This priest and his octopoid familiar seemed to be the centre of the cultist’s
attention. Suddenly, the mollusc let out a cry, a call so horrifying that I can scarcely recall it. At this
sound, the cultists screamed in exultation.
             The night sky behind the ritual lit into flame and destruction, and a huge, whispering creature appeared
from the darkness behind them: as I watched from my unusual vantage point, I began to
scream as I realised, in horror, that the monster before me was the creature from the idol, clothed in
the same ornate armour, and riding atop a beast, whose claws, teeth and horns glistened in the
firelight. In a strange moment of gross realisation, I discovered that the cultists surrounding the
monster were chanting a name: “Thoth-Gorgoroth, Thoth-Gorgoroth, Thoth Gorgoroth! Hail and revere the Whispers from a Darkness!”

~~~

 

This is the start of my Idoneth Deepkin army: an army that lurks in the deeps and, yep, you guessed it, whispers from a darkness. I recently read a collection of H.P.Lovecraft's short stories, and found myself wondering how cool an Idoneth Deepkin army would look if they were inspired by The Great Cthulhu. So, here goes.

My gaming club does primarily 500 point narrative games [my favourite :)], so the first goal is to buiuld up to that level.  Conversion wise, the modelling will be simple: using Genestealer Cult heads, I'll convert every akhelian model to have a cthonic, be-tentacled head, while every namarti model will be modelled as one of the cultists. 

As of now, I have bought and painted Lotann, with the cthonic head to come soon: 

 

 

I hope you enjoy; please leave a comment and follow! 

Sam

 

P.S. Thanks to @Melcavuk for inspiring the concept with his multitude of amazing projects and to @KnaveOfScribes for inspiring the format!

Edited May 31, 2019 by S133arcanite

[S133arcanite]

"And from either edges of the cosmos

Shall this evil be lauded!"

- The Tenebranomicon

~~~

           A colleague of mine knows of the horror that that accursed book spoke of. He said to me, after I published my findings in a scholarly article that was read by hundreds throughout the Scholae Antiquorum in Azyr and beyond, that the strange book that I stumbled upon, this 'Tenebranomicon', has been a recurrent feature in many ancient texts. My colleague, being a fellow scholar of the ancient things of this world, was well-versed about that tome. He said that many of the myths and legends of civilisations across the realms mentioned a book that told all who read it about... and at this point his voice had stuttered, as if in fright. And yet he continued: the book told of creatures known only as the Lost Ones. That much I already knew, just not named as such; the next fact, however, struck me dumb. My colleague said that these... Lost Ones were cousins in blood, kindred if you will, of the sea-inhabiting aelves that make their residence in the deep waters of the realms: the Idoneth. Though the Idoneth occasionally make allies of the servants of High Sigmar, the Lost Ones have been forgotten all together forgotten from the Deepkin lore, and thus left to survive on their own. What my colleague decrees, is that, in order to cope without aid, these lost aelves built an aquatic city, and then sealed themselves inside it, only to awaken when the constellations align. 

              What is clear to me, is that the constellations truly have aligned, and the Lost Ones have awoken. Thus, hidden cults across the realms have risen, with the world-ending goal to summon their sub-aquatic masters. And what is even clearer, is that they must be stopped.

~~~

Just quick update: I've finished my Lotann conversion. I still don't have the head, but other than that it's all ready:

I also did the base, which I am very proud of.

Until next time, please like and follow!

Sam

Edited May 19, 2019 by S133arcanite

[kenshin620]

Really cool theme! You may want to grab a few black ark corsair banners for squid motifs.

[S133arcanite]

"In mere moments may this evil consume the entirety of existence

And upon the blackened sands of time it will reign or raze."

-The Tenebranomicon

~~~

       The accursed image of that squid-headed scribe still bears with me. It haunts my nightmares, and it stalks the bottomless fringes of my subconscious. I remember it now, its mulloscoid familiar clinging to it like the deep-sea barnacle that it so abhorrently resembled. I can speak no more, for I fear for the life mine. I may only say this: run. Run from every shadow that flints and flickers, run from even the agents of vain paranoia. No insult is to weak, no tale to tall. I have seen things that make me doubt mine own ability to think straight. So I leave you with this: run, and send to me help.

~~~

      Hi guys, just another quick update: I've finished Lotann (or, as he is more cthonically known, Shum-Goth the Scribe).  I would also like to add, for safety's sake, that the short narative excerpts that I start the posts in are written in the style of H. P. Lovecraft's 'Call of Cthulhu'; I don't usually speak like this!

         @kenshin620 Thanks a lot! I hadn't even thought about that, but now will have to do it .

         For those among you who haven't read or heard about Cthulhu and Lovecraft, I found a cool little video about it:

         So, here Shum-Goth is, in all his disgusting Lovecraftian glory:

         I also built a small piece of counts-as Gloomtide Shipwreck using cork:

        Thanks for looking! Please like and follow!

Edited June 23, 2019 by S133arcanite

[The_Yellow_Sign]

Very cool! Where is the octopus head from?

[Lord Ashmodath]

Tyranids perhaps? you can see one example of a head similar to it here: https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/The-Enemy-Below-2017

[S133arcanite]

@The_Yellow_Sign @Lord Ashmodath Thanks guys. The head is actually from the Genestealer Cults Aberrants kit. I also plan on using a head from the Acolyte Hybrid kit. Unfortunately, both of them are almost always sold out; I have to guess that someone is creating a similar project to me! I had considered the Genestealer Brood head that @Lord Ashmodath mentioned, but it is older and therefore has more mouldlines, less detail etc.

[Lord Ashmodath]

I had forgotten about that head, but yes, it is much better.

[S133arcanite]

"The Evil's Progeny!

Thoth-Gorgoroth! Thoth-Gorgoroth!

Hail the Whispers frome a Darkness!"

- The Tenebranomicon

~~~

       That creature’s name still haunts me. The creature that arose from that dark and unhallowed night, his name and his image still haunts me , yes. I wish to speak of it no longer. That beast, Thoth-Gorgoroth, traces me in the twilight between dream and reality, and it stalks across the fine line between phantasy and reality. I wish to speak of it no longer. No longer.

~~~

Hi folks, another update today. I've bought and painted Thoth-Gorgoroth, my akhelian king, and finished off Shum-Goth.

I'm really pleased with Shum-Goth's base; it was made to resemble Lovecraft's sketches of the cthonic idol the protagonist finds in Call of Cthulhu:

Once again, thanks for looking! Please like, follow and reply with any suggestions for the force's expansion.

Thanks,

Sam

Edited June 24, 2019 by S133arcanite

[ArmitageShanks]

Sweet work! I particularly love the scales on Thoth-Gorgoroth's mount. And I have no choice but to agree the bases are really well done. On that topic, would you be able to share where you got the custom "name ring" for the lack of a better term? I might be very interested in those since I have named most of my characters and something like this would be a cherry on top kind of thing.

[Arnied3]

Great work here man! I love the Cthulhu conversions! Great combo with Idoneth.

[S133arcanite]

@Arnied3 Thanks a lot dude! I've been working on my Legion of Grief for the last few weeks so haven't made any progress on the deepen. Hopefully I'll be back with some eels in a few weeks.

[AthlorianStoners]

This is amazing please keep updating! 

[Frowny]

This is super-cool but seems to have fallen off? I'd love to see more. I was pondering something similar myself.