For context on the world, please see the Intro post and context on the rings of The Sorcerer King, please see Item 22.
After gaining the Ouroboros ring, The
Sorcerer King had to increase and strengthen his army. Even though The Sorcerer
King had the army of the Viking King Seithennin backing him up, Seithennin
informed The Sorcerer King that his army isn’t enough to overthrow the kingdom
of Cantre’r Gwaelod.
But Seithennin knew where The Sorcerer King
could get more help, and that was to make a deal with the Deep Ones. I briefly
mentioned them in Item #22 The hand of The Sorcerer King, but I will go over it
again and in more detail.
The Deep Ones come from the realm known as the Golrion, the world behind the Dark Tapestry (see Item #56: Zeit Verkürzen or the Time Piece), but unlike the other dark creatures from that realm, the Deep Ones, aren’t inherently evil.
The Deep Ones can’t naturally think for themselves and need a master to tell them what to do. Think of them as living weapons and these weapons were used by none other than Cthulhu, The Sleeper of R'lyeh.
Cthulhu, like The Lady of the Lake, is a water elemental and has great power and influence over the water domain. He is the son of Nug, one of the twin sons of Yog-Sothoth and Shub-Niggurath (please see Item #56: Zeit Verkürzen or the Time Piece).
Now, I won’t go over Cthulhu’s full story in this post. But if you would like to learn more about him, you can read it on my Patreon. There I will go over the next cursed object, Item 151: The Statuette of Cthulhu, a powerful object used to worship the Elder One. Link here:
The
Deep Ones were under the command of Cthulhu when he tried to take over the
oceans of Magusterra.
They arrived in a meteor with Cthulhu and immediately started a war with The
lady of the Lake.
The war was bloody and messy. It took a thousand years
to end, but at least The Lady of the Lake was victorious. For you see Cthulhu’s
arrogance and over confidence was no match for The Lady of the Lake and the
other Immortals who stood by her.
The war is documented in my Patreon post, Item
151: The Statuette of Cthulhu. But I will say that The Lady of the Lake
imprisoned Cthulhu in the now sunken city (turned prison) of Atlantis, in a
district known as R'lyeh.
After Cthulhu’s defeat, the Deep Ones
scattered as The Lady of the Lake sent her warriors after them. But after some
time, The Lady of the Lake realised that they were harmless without a master
and decided to employ them instead of killing them.
As I mentioned in Item #22 The hand of The Sorcerer King, I met one of these beings, by the name of Garry. And the Deep Ones can only be described as walking fish/frog people. Dark green, with webbed hands and feet, they, like merpeople, have both lungs and gills. But they can’t stay out of the water for too long, as their lungs eventually will give out and reject oxygen.
The Lady of the Lake took command over them and slowly some of the elder Deep Ones gained independence. These elders were then made the leaders of the Deep Ones and served The Lady of the Lake with unwavering loyalty. But because of the way they look, the Deep Ones were given tasks that kept them hidden.
Most of the Deep Ones’ jobs were to guard
The Lady of the Lake’s special treasures in the deepest parts of the oceans.
One of these were accidently revealed, but then quickly recovered. This being
the Sea Monolith, that accidently floated to the surface during a fight between
The Lady of the Lake’s Deep Ones and Cthulhu’s Deep Ones.
During the fight the Monolith washed up on
an island, where it was discovered by an unknown Human sailor in 1914. But the
Monolith was recovered by The Lady of the Lake’s Deep Ones.
Anyway, getting back to the point: as the Deep Ones grew conscious they formed a deeper connection with The Lady of the Lake. The Lady of the Lake even had a brief relationship with one of the elder Deep Ones who went by the name Nh'avita.
Nh'avita and The Lady of the Lake had a son, Dagon. As it turns out, the Deep Ones can have children with any humanoid creature. It doesn’t matter if it is a Human, a merperson, elf, Immortal and so on.
At first the child born will look like the species of the mother it is birthed from (with a few distinct Deep Ones features, now known as the “Innsmouth look”), over time they will take on the form of a Deep One, more on this later.
I mention this, because Dagon at first looked nothing like his father, Nh'avita, but looked more like a merman. That was until he got older and became more Deep One-like.
But due to his heritage (i.e. his mother side), he was much larger, stronger and faster than the other Deep Ones. Because of this, he was crowned as the King of the Deep Ones and was put in charge of making sure that the Deep Ones followed out The lady of the Lake’s orders.
Before we carry on, I should just briefly
mention how Cthulhu communicated and controlled the Deep Ones before he was
defeated.
He did this through his statuettes. Using
the metals and stones from the meteorites that brought him to Magusterra, he made the
statuettes to mesmerise and mind control anyone who looked at it. These figures
of Cthulhu affected many Humans and can still affect them even after he was
imprisoned in Atlantis! This is why they were all destroyed except for two, one
is the Item
151: The Statuette of Cthulhu, which you can read more about on my Patreon,
and the second belongs to Dagon and his wife, Hydra.
Hydra is the granddaughter of Mother Nature. Let’s
break it down, first, Hydra’s father is Typhon, and Typhon is the son of Mother
Nature and Tartarus. Tartarus is a fire elemental that, like Nyx, is a Night
Creature from the realm known as Chaos.
Hydra’s mother is, Echidna a naga (a Human-snake
hybrid that can live in water). Echidna is the daughter of Ceto, a female naga
and Phorcys a merman.
Hydra was born a naga, but had features of a mermaid.
She was separated from her parents at a young age, due to her father being an agent of chaos and her mother helping him destroy everything in their way.
The Lady of the Lake saw hope in Hydra and after
imprisoning her mother in Atlantis, and The Mighty Phoenix, imprisoning her
father in the prison of Tartarus (and yes this prison was named after Typhon’s
father, who was also imprisoned there), The Lady of the Lake made Hydra a nymph
and sent her to Lake Lerna.
There Hydra found a Cthulhu statuette. Even though
Cthulhu was captured, he was still able to telepathically communicate to anyone
who looked at it. And by looking at it Cthulhu used his powers of madness to
control her.
Because Hydra has a connection to the Chaos realm she
was easily susceptible to Cthulhu’s control, but because she was also connected
to the Immortals, she was able to resist Cthulhu’s commands to attack The Lady
of the Lake.
Instead, Hydra just became obsessed with the
statuette. You see, even though Hydra was loved by The Lady of the Lake, the
other nymphs at Lake Lerna, were scared of her and thus distanced themselves,
alienating Hydra.
Hydra became lonely and when she found the statuette
she formed a bond with Cthulhu. At first Cthulhu didn’t want anything to do
with her because he couldn’t control her, but seeing that he was in prison and
all of his other figures were being destroyed, he kept on talking to her.
Slowly, Hydra, fell in love with Cthulhu. But then the other nymphs found out about it and threatened to destroy her connection to the Sleeper of R'lyeh. This angered Hydra and she fought back.
During her fight for the statuette, it became clear that she deeply coveted the figure, and a form of Dragon sickness took hold (see Item #128: The Necklace of Brisings) and turned her into the Lernaean Hydra Dragon.
In her dragon form, Hydra, killed all the other nymphs and anyone who dared to come close to her lair, where she kept her precious Cthulhu statuette.
The one thing that made Hydra so dangerous, was that she couldn’t die. She had a fast regeneration healing factor, very deadly venomous spit and if you cut off her head, two more would grow back in its place.
Many have tried to kill her, but all failed and by the time Heracles was sent to kill her, Hydra already had over a hundred heads!
Heracles, with his nephew Iolaus, defeated and killed Hydra. Heracles did this by cauterising the neck every time he cut off a head with fire. This prevented Hydra from growing anymore heads. But as mentioned, Hydra can’t die, but she could be put in a state of stasis.
To do this, Heracles cut of Hydra’s first head, which
is the main head that was responsible for regeneration. And if this head was
separated from the body, it stops her from healing and puts Hydra in a
permanent state of unconsciousness. Heracles buried her head in a secret place
and destroyed the statuette.
The Lady of the Lake, feeling bad for Hydra sent her crab, Karkinos, to retrieve the head.
But when Karkinos found the head he saw that Hydra’s normal head was lying next to her dragon head.
It turns out that when Heracles “killed her” her
dragon personality and normal personality split. And as I said, cutting of one
head, two will grow back in its place. Here the same happened, but one head was
the dragon and the other was Hydra before she became a dragon.
Karkinos surmised that the dragon become its own being
and that if you attach it to the main body the dragon would be reborn, but
without Hydra’s consciousness. Meaning that it would just be another mindless
dragon, without Hydra’s strong connection and lust over the Cthulhu statuette.
Karkinos also figured that if the dragon’s head could
come back to life, then so should Hydra’s. Fearing that the dragon would fall
into the wrong hands, Karkinos, left that and just took Hydra’s head to The
Lady of the Lake.
With the help of Mother Nature and Brother Life, The
Lady of the Lake, grew back Hydra’s original body and sent her to Dagon, where
she could recover.
There Dagon and Hydra became close, married and had a
child (more on this later). Hydra became the Queen of the Deep Ones and at
first, Hydra, with Dagon, followed The Lady of the Lake’s orders. But then she
found an ancient home of the Deep Ones before they joined The Lady of the Lake.
And there, Hydra, found another (the second last) statuette! Seeing this
artefact brought back all of Hydra’s memories and feelings for Cthulhu.
First she fought against her feelings, but quickly she
longed for him. And this is how Cthulhu controlled her. He promised her that
once he is free, they could be together, but she would have to join forces with
him. Hydra agreed and showed Dagon the statuette. He fell under Cthulhu’s
control and because Dagon was the son of an elder Deep One he could force the
Deep Ones to once again join Cthulhu in taking over the oceans of Magusterra.
Cthulhu made himself a god and formed the Cult of
Cthulhu, a religion that worships him. Dagon and Hydra were made the head
priest and priestess. Cthulhu gave them new titles, Dagon would now be Father
Dagon and Hydra, Mother Hydra. And the Deep Ones were their disciples, that
spread this cult to all other humanoid beings, especially to the Humans (see Item #22 The hand of The
Sorcerer King).
As mentioned, some Deep Ones formed their own
consciousness, and thus they were able to resist Dagon’s control. Those Deep
Ones stayed with The Lady of the Lake and a war broke out between Cthulhu’s
Deep Ones and The Lady of the Lake’s Deep Ones, that still goes on to this day!
Now this war has and will most likely always be in The
Lady of the Lake’s favour. Even though Cthulhu has Father Dagon and Mother
Hydra, they are unfortunately not as strong as The Lady of the Lake. The only
being that can turn the tides of the war, would be if Cthulhu himself joined
in, but seeing that he is locked up, that seems unlikely.
So to try and win the war, Cthulhu told Father Dagon
to grow his Deep Ones army, through what he called “Operation Breeding” a
mission aimed at the Humans who joined the Cult or Calling of Cthulhu.
The Humans who were a part of this disgusting
religion, were now forced to partake in “breeding rites” where the unmarried
women of a city or town that joined the cult would be impregnated by the Deep
Ones army. Cthulhu chose the Humans as unlike other humanoid beings, the Humans
can’t be controlled by the Immortals, due to them being part of the First
Created.
The Humans born from this unholy union would be born
with big glossy uneven eyes, a large mouth and greenish skin, referred to as
the Innsmouth Look. And as they grow older, they turn into a Deep One.
But as mentioned in Item #22 The hand of The Sorcerer King, the
Immortals hunted down the Humans pregnant with these Deep One hybrids. This led
to the Deep Ones breeding amongst themselves at times when their numbers were
dwindling, and there were times that they committed incestuous acts to boost
their numbers! But despite that, “Operation Breeding” is still an ongoing plan.
The last known place that “Operation Breeding” was
thriving, was in the town of Innsmouth in 1927. But they were discovered and
the town was attacked. Most of the residents and Deep One offspring escaped and
are still on the loose, presumably carrying on with the operation and spreading
the teachings of the Cult of Cthulhu.
Now that you have the general history of the Deep
Ones, let’s get back to The
Sorcerer King. The Viking King, Seithennin, knew about the Deep Ones, as years
ago he found a village near one of the Deep Ones’ underwater city of K'toch. Seithennin
bought slaves from this village and learned about the Deep Ones and where their
other underwater cities were located.
Seithennin knew that The Sorcerer King
wouldn’t stop until he had the kingdom of Cantre’r Gwaelod under his control.
But as mentioned, Seithennin didn’t have the man power to wage an attack on the
kingdom that could last several years. So using his knowledge of the Deep Ones
and their locations, Seithennin told The Sorcerer King all about them, their
history and what The Sorcerer King could offer up in order to win their favour.
Seithennin took The Sorcerer King to the
underwater city of Y'lu-Y'loa, which was the closes to the land of Cymru, where
Cantre’r Gwaelod could be found.
The Sorcerer King used his magic to allow
them to enter the city of Y'lu-Y'loa. There by pure coincidence, Father Dagon
and Mother Hydra, were hiding from The Lady of the Lake. The Sorcerer King
approached them with the promise that if they give him an army of Deep Ones, he
will share in the spoils of war, allow them to practice their breeding rites,
force the people to join the Cult and using his Midas ring, will send them
golden gifts at the end of each month.
Father Dagon approved of these terms, but
he had to speak it over with Cthulhu. At first Cthulhu wasn’t pleased with the
idea of another in command of his Deep Ones, but after hearing that The
Sorcerer King wanted Cantre’r Gwaelod, he reconsidered.
For you see there was another Kingdom in Cymru,
called the Kingdom of Gwynedd, ruled by the King Llunwy, who is a descendent of
Cthulhu’s bloodline and was a part of the Cult of Cthulhu. So, Cthulhu figured
that it would be a great benefit to have two kingdoms in Cymru under his control.
Cthulhu gave permission to Father Dagon
that The Sorcerer King can use his army, but Father Dagon had to make sure that
The Sorcerer King wouldn’t double cross them.
Father Dagon came up with the idea that The
Sorcerer King, in order to show his allegiance would have to enter a blood pact
with the Dagon family.
Using the metals from one of Cthulhu’s meteors, the Deep Ones forged two rings, more precisely wedding rings. One for The Sorcerer King, which allowed him to call upon any Deep Ones near him that were under Cthulhu’s and Father Dagon’s control. This ring was made of a strange other worldly metal and had a gem in it.
This gem contained the blood of Father Dagon, which allowed The Sorcerer King to telepathically control the Deep Ones, to a limited degree of course. Father Dagon’s telepathic powers were still stronger and had more sway over the minds of the Deep Ones.
The metal the gem was on, helped The Sorcerer King resonate with the minds of the Deep Ones and by tapping on it, the metal sends out high frequency soundwaves that only the fish people of Y'lu-Y'loa could hear. The ring also gave The Sorcerer King the ability to breath underwater and also not be crushed by its pressure.
This wedding ring was the fifth and final
ring that The Sorcerer King obtained to take over Cantre’r Gwaelod, and is
known as The wedding ring of Shala.
The second was given to Shala, the daughter of Father Dagon and Mother Hydra.
Shala’s ring had the power to break the gem
on The Sorcerer King’s ring, causing him to lose control over the Deep Ones,
sending the Deep Ones into a crazed frenzy and forcing them to attack The
Sorcerer King. But this can only be activated if The Sorcerer King wanted to
double cross them.
The Sorcerer King agreed to the pact and within a year the rings were made, the two wed and The Sorcerer King impregnated Shala (a child was the equivalent of a signature on a contract in the Deep One’s customs).
The Sorcerer King finally had all he needed to take over the kingdom of Cantre’r Gwaelod.
Just a final note, some might ask why Father Dagon didn’t just show The Sorcerer King the Cthulhu statuette and put him under Cthulhu’s power? Well, two things, one is that the Brisings ring’s mesmerising magic can cancel out other’s mesmerising powers. This was to ensure that for instance if someone tried to hypnotise Freya into giving up her necklace (see Item #128: The Necklace of Brisings) the necklace would cancel it out, preventing anyone from stealing any Brisings jewellery through the same power the necklace uses to enchant people.
And
second, if Cthulhu can’t control people through their minds, which he couldn’t
with The
Sorcerer King, because his determination to take over Cantre’r Gwaelod was too
strong, then Cthulhu would use their heart’s desires.
We see that Cthulhu did this with Mother
Hydra, by promising to marry her when he is set free. And as we know from Item #23: The Brisings Ring and Item #25: The ring of Ouroboros, The
Sorcerer King pulled out and crushed his own heart! So the marriage and the
threat of being constantly attacked by the Deep Ones were the next best thing.
Now to carry on the story of how The
Sorcerer King took over Cantre’r Gwaelod.
With an army of Deep Ones, The Sorcerer
King took a year to come up with a coordinated plan and to wait for the next
visit of the fairy priestess, Mererid.
During this year, Shala gave birth to Baal,
who took after his great-great-grandmother and great-great-grandfather (Mother
Nature and Tartarus), for he had power over nature and was born with horns
(which Tartarus had).
After a year of waiting, The Sorcerer King
got rid of Mererid, and the kingdom was flooded. This allowed Seithennin’s army
to charge the castle with boats full of men and the Deep Ones could simply just
swim in and take over.
Cantre’r Gwaelod’s men were outnumbered and
didn’t know how to fight underwater. And the Viking boats made it hard for them
to attack Seithennin’s warriors. They were no match for The Sorcerer King, who
then killed King Gwyddno Garanhir and took Cantre’r Gwaelod as his new home.
And as promised, Father Dagon got his share
of the kingdom’s treasure, were allowed to perform their “breeding rites” and
all the people were forced to worship Cthulhu.
The Deep Ones helped The Sorcerer King keep
the people of Cantre’r Gwaelod in line. The Sorcerer King also used the
teachings of The Cult of Cthulhu to oppress and control the people. And of
course he used his Brisings ring.
Life in Cantre’r Gwaelod was a miserable
one. This went on for many years until The Sorcerer King lost his hand and was
killed by Merlin (see Item #22 The hand of The Sorcerer King).
Then, as we learned, the kingdom was then flooded and sent to the bottom of the ocean by The Lady of the Lake. And at this time, Kingdom of Gwynedd, was under the rule of King Owen Gwynedd. Who was also part of Cthulhu’s bloodline. But The Lady of the Lake gave him the option to turn away from his evil ancestry and the Cult or face the same fate as Cantre’r Gwaelod. King Owen Gwynedd accepted and helped The Lady of the Lake chase away the Deep Ones from his kingdom.
Now for Baal…
If you want to learn more about Cthulhu and
his powers, please check out the Patreon post:
And that is the Wedding ring of Shala, the ring that gave The Sorcerer King an army of ancient fish warriors. Join me in the next post as I document the ring that started it all, Item 26: The Ring of Midas.
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