Ok, so I keep seeing the language Aklo listed in the various campaigns, but I, for the life of me, can't find out who or what are the native speakers of this language.
Anyone know?
It is a Darkland language, the most prevalent speakers of it are the Serpenfolk.
Ah-Ha! Thanks.
Creative Director
|
Aklo is more than just a Darklands language. It's an ancient language that had its genesis in prehuman civilizations—among them the serpentfolk. But the language wasn't invented by the serpentfolk. It's basically the "creepy magic language" of the game—it's what the scary Lovecraftian monsters speak; it's what the weird First World creatures speak; it's what evil twisted fey speak; it's the language most often used by blasphemous or forbidden spellbooks; and so on.
One really simple way to think of Aklo is as a sort of "Anti-Sylvan" language, in fact.
Aklo itself, by the way, has been around for over a hundred years; it was invented by the writer Arthur Machen and used also by H. P. Lovecraft and other writers over the following years. Check out the Wikipedia page on it here!
Aklo itself, by the way, has been around for over a hundred years; it was invented by the writer Arthur Machen and used also by H. P. Lovecraft and other writers over the following years.[/url]
Yes! And Machen's "The White People" should be required reading for all fans of dark fantasy and horror. ;-)
It's listed in the core book Linguistics skill description.
Ok, so I keep seeing the language Aklo listed in the various campaigns, but I, for the life of me, can't find out who or what are the native speakers of this language.
You don't want to find them. ;)
The Derro, a degenerate race of Creeps are the most common and most creepy of the Aklo speakers that are humanoid... that I have seen... akhgruk...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
One really simple way to think of Aklo is as a sort of "Anti-Sylvan" language, in fact.
In other words: Sylvan is for Seelie Summer, Aklo for Unseelie Winter.
Yes! And Machen's "The White People" should be required reading for all fans of dark fantasy and horror. ;-)
"The Great God Pan" was better. ;)
*contrary to be contrary, and to emphasize being a wierd fiction nerd*
Aklo itself, by the way, has been around for over a hundred years; it was invented by the writer Arthur Machen and used also by H. P. Lovecraft and other writers over the following years. Check out the Wikipedia page on it here!
Dude. You use Aklo from Arthur Machen, and yet you call me out for using "obscure" wierd fiction references when I name dropped Stethelos from 'The Green Meadow'. :P
Nerd! :)
Aklo is in your mind. (see James' link... under Alan Moore)
The Delta Green Fairfield Project wiki posits Aklo as a sort of language virus that drives you insane.
here is a Machen-based blog.
here is Machen's The White People. The story only briefly mentions the Aklo letters, which are clearly dangerous.
that was actually a really informative thread on aklo.
I thought it was serpent tounge like draconic was for dragons.
Interesting, creepy lovecraftian creatures, and pathfinder without an illithid, why! Why gods why???
that was actually a really informative thread on aklo.
I thought it was serpent tounge like draconic was for dragons.Interesting, creepy lovecraftian creatures, and pathfinder without an illithid, why! Why gods why???
I will second that and add some more books to my reading list.
|
Creative Director
|
that was actually a really informative thread on aklo.
I thought it was serpent tounge like draconic was for dragons.Interesting, creepy lovecraftian creatures, and pathfinder without an illithid, why! Why gods why???
Illithids aren't open content. We can no more include illithids than we can Godzilla or Mickey Mouse without getting sued.
Doesn't mean folks cant put mind flayers or Godzilla or Mickey Mouse in their home games, of course.
Following up briefly on that: Since you are able to use the Eye of the Deep (Pathfinder #21), would you (in theory) be able to create a non-aquatic version of that and still follow OGL?
(I understand why you wouldn't, even if you could; this is just theoretical)
that was actually a really informative thread on aklo.
I thought it was serpent tounge like draconic was for dragons.Interesting, creepy lovecraftian creatures, and pathfinder without an illithid, why! Why gods why???
Illithids aren't open content. We can no more include illithids than we can Godzilla or Mickey Mouse without getting sued.
Doesn't mean folks cant put mind flayers or Godzilla or Mickey Mouse in their home games, of course.
I know they aren't, been mentioned in other threads, but nothing says creepy lovecraftian monster more than a mindflayer.
I saw a mini somewhere ( i think we own it) from another company that looks exactly like a mindflayer but its called a b'thanallian or some such thing. how is it they can't be sued?
And if they can't just because they changed the name, they can't any game system make "squid head brain eating guy", isnt that the same thing?
I mean WoTC would be wasting money to trademark or copy write something if all they could protect was the name and not the actual intellectual property, so what the heck is the tentacle faced bathaalian thing? or because it's a mini and not a printed up monster stat, it's safe?
Following up briefly on that: Since you are able to use the Eye of the Deep (Pathfinder #21), would you (in theory) be able to create a non-aquatic version of that and still follow OGL?
(I understand why you wouldn't, even if you could; this is just theoretical)
weird, isnt an eye of the deep a beholder-kin thats aquatic, how did the other beholders stay closed content and that one escape?
so pathfinder #21 do mean jackal's price or pathfinder society scenario #21?
where is the little bugger?
|
I know they aren't, been mentioned in other threads, but nothing says creepy lovecraftian monster more than a mindflayer.
Well, I'd say that a lot of things say creepy Lovecraftian monster more than a mindflayer. Specifically, monsters that come straight from Lovecraft...of which Pathfinder has no shortage (and will approximately double in a few months).
I know they aren't, been mentioned in other threads, but nothing says creepy lovecraftian monster more than a mindflayer.Well, I'd say that a lot of things say creepy Lovecraftian monster more than a mindflayer. Specifically, monsters that come straight from Lovecraft...of which Pathfinder has no shortage (and will approximately double in a few months).
says the guy with the mindflayer icon.
weird, isnt an eye of the deep a beholder-kin thats aquatic, how did the other beholders stay closed content and that one escape?
Part of using the OGL is agreeing not to use certain monsters as listed by WotC, "Beholder" is on that list, "Eye of the Deep" is not.
I saw a mini somewhere ( i think we own it) from another company that looks exactly like a mindflayer but its called a b'thanallian or some such thing. how is it they can't be sued?
And if they can't just because they changed the name, they can't any game system make "squid head brain eating guy", isnt that the same thing?
I mean WoTC would be wasting money to trademark or copy write something if all they could protect was the name and not the actual intellectual property, so what the heck is the tentacle faced bathaalian thing? or because it's a mini and not a printed up monster stat, it's safe?
Illithid names and background would be copyrighted/trademarked but the general shape - humanoid/squid hybrid probably appeared in fiction earlier, before TSR introduced mind flayers. Actual lawyer would have to speak on this matter but I think that not being the first to use that appearance greatly reduce their chance of winning the case in court.
And the folks at paizo said at several opportunities that they would rather develop their own, new monsters than use creatures that might or might not get them into a legal tangle with WotC - remember, many paizoans were once WotC employees and would not want that for personal reasons.
Stefan
Doesn't mean folks cant put ...... Mickey Mouse in their home games, of course.
(Emphasis mine.)
And my Serpent's Skull campaign takes a turn for the surreal. ;-)
...I guess... although we're deliberately NOT using seelie and unseelie in Pathfinder.In other words: Sylvan is for Seelie Summer, Aklo for Unseelie Winter.
One really simple way to think of Aklo is as a sort of "Anti-Sylvan" language, in fact.
I know, but Seelie/Unseelie and Summer/Winter are known concepts and sum it up pretty well.
Of course, everyone who hears "Seelie Court" or "Summer Fey" and thinks everything will be nice and benevolent is in for a nasty surprise, but that's true outside of Pathfinder, too.
|
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8
|
Doesn't mean folks cant put ...... Mickey Mouse in their home games, of course.(Emphasis mine.)
And my Serpent's Skull campaign takes a turn for the surreal. ;-)
I once played in a game where Mary Poppins showed up, for no damn good reason, and left us all completely mystified.
Illithids aren't open content. We can no more include illithids than we can Godzilla or Mickey Mouse without getting sued.WHAT ABOUT SMURFS!?!?
With an animation / live action movie out this summer. I am gonna guess NO
humanoid/squid hybrid probably appeared in fiction earlier, before TSR introduced mind flayers.
Like, say, Cthulhu.
|
Creative Director
|
Following up briefly on that: Since you are able to use the Eye of the Deep (Pathfinder #21), would you (in theory) be able to create a non-aquatic version of that and still follow OGL?
(I understand why you wouldn't, even if you could; this is just theoretical)
I suppose, but I really wish that I'd NOT used the eye of the deep in Pathfinder #21 in hindsight. It's a cool monster, and back then I hadn't really stopped to think about it's baggage as an "aquatic beholder" enough. Were I developing that adventure today, I would replace the eye of the deep with something else.
Beholders, of ALL the monsters that WotC kept back from the SRD, are the MOST iconic and have the LEAST amount of outside-of-the-game inspiration. They're pure D&D, in other words. I'd like to leave them in D&D as a result, out of respect if nothing else.
|
Creative Director
|
I know they aren't, been mentioned in other threads, but nothing says creepy lovecraftian monster more than a mindflayer.
Well... I would say "shoggoth" says "Lovecraftian monster" more than a mind flayer. Along with "Leng" or "Yog-Sothoth" or any number of things Lovecraft invented. All of which are in Pathfinder. And with the upcoming Carrion Crown AP, that number will expand further. I'd rather go right to the source than to a source one generation removed if I'm going to include Lovecraftian elements in the game.
|
Creative Director
|
weird, isnt an eye of the deep a beholder-kin thats aquatic, how did the other beholders stay closed content and that one escape?
so pathfinder #21 do mean jackal's price or pathfinder society scenario #21?
where is the little bugger?
Because the eye of the deep snuck into the open content world in the Tome of Horrors, and no one at WotC noticed or made the connection or whatever. This is the same reason we can use things like Jubilex, aurumvoraxes, flumphs, and daemons, among dozens and dozens of other creatures.
Pathfinder #21 does indeed mean "Jackal's Price." As a general rule, when folks talk about the scenarios, they use the PFS abbreviation.
|
|
says the guy with the mindflayer icon.
Hey buddy, watch it! I ain't no brain-eater! I'm a sanity blaster! That ain't no collar, that's my wings! I have to fold them forward like that to emerge from that dark crack you see...a crack in the walls of R'lyeh! I am the Spawn of Great Cthulhu, long may he slumber!
I still remember laughing so hard I snarfed my coke when I found out the party paladin spoke Aklo in Jason N.'s kingmaker campaign. Eventually I accepted "know thine enemy" as a rationale, but it was hysterical indeed.
Well... I would say "shoggoth" says "Lovecraftian monster" more than a mind flayer. Along with "Leng" or "Yog-Sothoth" or any number of things Lovecraft invented. All of which are in Pathfinder. And with the upcoming Carrion Crown AP, that number will expand further. I'd rather go right to the source than to a source one generation removed if I'm going to include Lovecraftian elements in the game.
OK that may be an AP I have to beat the rest of the gaming group into playing.
edit: James have you folks used the flumph any where.
/fondly remembers the old dragon magazine comic about the "uses of the Flumph"
weird, isnt an eye of the deep a beholder-kin thats aquatic, how did the other beholders stay closed content and that one escape?
so pathfinder #21 do mean jackal's price or pathfinder society scenario #21?
where is the little bugger?
Because the eye of the deep snuck into the open content world in the Tome of Horrors, and no one at WotC noticed or made the connection or whatever. This is the same reason we can use things like Jubilex, aurumvoraxes, flumphs, and daemons, among dozens and dozens of other creatures.
Pathfinder #21 does indeed mean "Jackal's Price." As a general rule, when folks talk about the scenarios, they use the PFS abbreviation.
well huh, we tpkd in house of the beast, i never made it the eye of the deep.
Since I Have that AP in a foot locker somewhere and might use it again, mind if i pick your brain on what would you have used instead of an eye of the deep?
|
Creative Director
|
Well... I would say "shoggoth" says "Lovecraftian monster" more than a mind flayer. Along with "Leng" or "Yog-Sothoth" or any number of things Lovecraft invented. All of which are in Pathfinder. And with the upcoming Carrion Crown AP, that number will expand further. I'd rather go right to the source than to a source one generation removed if I'm going to include Lovecraftian elements in the game.OK that may be an AP I have to beat the rest of the gaming group into playing.
edit: James have you folks used the flumph any where.
/fondly remembers the old dragon magazine comic about the "uses of the Flumph"
|
Creative Director
|
well huh, we tpkd in house of the beast, i never made it the eye of the deep.
Since I Have that AP in a foot locker somewhere and might use it again, mind if i pick your brain on what would you have used instead of an eye of the deep?
Perhaps an aboleth. Which would have probably meant some serious reconstruction of the adventure to account for the presence of an aboleth.
But more likely, some other aquatic monster from the Tome of Horrors. Maybe a hydrodaemon.
Doesn't mean folks cant put mind flayers or Godzilla or Mickey Mouse in their home games, of course.Hmm... Mickey Mouse = Weremouse Bard? (stats as per Wererat Bard... with different alignment, as mice prefer grain/cereal bits instead of fleshy bits)
Mickey Mouse would make an excellent soul bond doll.
I know they aren't, been mentioned in other threads, but nothing says creepy lovecraftian monster more than a mindflayer.
As much as I love Illithids, and as much as I feel your pain about them not being able to make it into Pathfinder*, I never found them connecting well to the Lovecraftian mythos outside of their physical resemblance to a certain Great Old One.
Aboleths, now, that's more like it. Older than gods, aquatic, living in sunken cities of bizarre splendor, worshiping some obscure deities that map all too well to Great Old Ones, and waiting for the day when the Prime Material worlds revert into primordial oceans so they can rule once more... coolness. I never really cared about Aboleths until I read Savage Species, but now they battle Illithids for the place of my favorite cosmic threat in D&D multiverse. Very glad they made it into Pathfinder as well.
* Not that I can't, or won't use them in my PF games. I'd just love to see what new creepy twists the brilliant minds at Paizo could put on them.
I know they aren't, been mentioned in other threads, but nothing says creepy lovecraftian monster more than a mindflayer.As much as I love Illithids, and as much as I feel your pain about them not being able to make it into Pathfinder*, I never found them connecting well to the Lovecraftian mythos outside of their physical resemblance to a certain Great Old One.
Aboleths, now, that's more like it. Older than gods, aquatic, living in sunken cities of bizarre splendor, worshiping some obscure deities that map all too well to Great Old Ones, and waiting for the day when the Prime Material worlds revert into primordial oceans so they can rule once more... coolness. I never really cared about Aboleths until I read Savage Species, but now they battle Illithids for the place of my favorite cosmic threat in D&D multiverse. Very glad they made it into Pathfinder as well.
* Not that I can't, or won't use them in my PF games. I'd just love to see what new creepy twists the brilliant minds at Paizo could put on them.
Can I say that until I read Lords of Madness I had no love for the Illithids.
That they became a monster I enjoyed.
Can I say that until I read Lords of Madness I had no love for the Illithids.
** spoiler omitted **
That they became a monster I enjoyed.
Creepy. Also cool.
BTW, did I say "Savage Species"? Because I meant Lords of Madness, probably my favorite D&D sourcebook.
FYI there was a Beholder in "Big Trouble In Little China" with Kurt Russel :) He shot it I believe...
FYI there was a Beholder in "Big Trouble In Little China" with Kurt Russel :) He shot it I believe...
yea that is weird, think they got it out of DnD? Or was there another source for inspiration?
Edit: that weird mumbling it was doing, was THAT Aklo??
:D
says the guy with the mindflayer icon.Hey buddy, watch it! I ain't no brain-eater! I'm a sanity blaster! That ain't no collar, that's my wings! I have to fold them forward like that to emerge from that dark crack you see...a crack in the walls of R'lyeh! I am the Spawn of Great Cthulhu, long may he slumber!
LOOK IT'S DOCTOR ZOIDBERG!
FYI there was a Beholder in "Big Trouble In Little China" with Kurt Russel :) He shot it I believe...
Hmm... only found a still so far: beholder
|
Creative Director
|
FYI there was a Beholder in "Big Trouble In Little China" with Kurt Russel :) He shot it I believe...
yea that is weird, think they got it out of DnD? Or was there another source for inspiration?
Edit: that weird mumbling it was doing, was THAT Aklo??
:D
Well... the fact that "Big Trouble in Little China" was in production at about the point where D&D had reached the height of its popularity, I think that it's very likely that someone somewhere along the way was indeed inspired by the beholder for that critter.