#cultantum campaign

[cultantumcampaign]

So uh…. What’s Cultantum’s view on gnome ceremorphs?

They are welcomed into society and often are excepted without resistance by Cultantum ceremorphs. The Gnome ceremorphs themselves find this odd at first usually but get used to it

#cultantum campaign #illithids

[mushroomsandteeth]

Cultantum Campaign Summary

The party characters are from a small country called Thema. Thema is not known for much except for its enormous Royal Library and rolling farm lands. Recently Thema has started to decay. All magic has stopped working, crops are dying and animals are behaving in strange ways.

King Desperato has hired to party to travel to the neighboring Kingdom of Cultantum for aid. Cultantum is famous for being a dangerous country populated mostly by monsters, "evil" races, and those banished from their home countries. But it is also known for having God Tears, powerful magics stones that power the cursed country. You king hopes that with enough God Tears Thema can be saved.

#cultantum campaign #summary

[cultantumcampaign]

Burganworth and Thema Illithids Colonies

While Cultantum has its surface dwelling friendly illithids, there are of course your traditional mindflayers as well. There are about nine other colonies in Burganworth and Themas' underdark. I'm not going to list them all but here are some fun facts:

Colonies on Andnya normally are named after their elder brain with the suffix of 'ahal added at the end. So if the elder is named Trozzilt his colony would be Trozzilt'ahal.

There is a colony called Halkadula'ahal but often is just called the Red Falls Colony. Red Falls is a location in the underdark with fresh water and iron rich soil which makes the area red. Red Falls illithids are even deadlier than their normal counterparts. They have retractable claw like barbs on their tentacles and sharp beaks around their mouths. They sometimes don't even need to stun their prey to kill them. They are constantly waring against a local drow city over their water supply. It is said if you see a white illithid with red markings you should run as quickly as possible before it can grab you, because even one alone can kill a party.

Therara'ahal is in the crystal yards, a massive field of glowing crystals that leads to a drop off called the Cliffs of Madness. The cliffs are called this because at the bottom of this is an enormous elder evil. This evil is unnamed and doesn't move. Its thousands of red eyes gaze upward unblinking. No one knows why it is there, or why it doesn't move. The Therara'ahal illithids have even sent thralls to collect samples from the elder evil. The Therara'ahal illithids live above it on homes dug into the cliffs because it radiants psionics energy they can harvest.

Uddex'ahal is actually underwater. The entire colony is beautiful with waterfalls and corals growing inside it. The Uddex'ahal illithids act as pirates and attack ships that get too close to their territory.

Trozzilt'ahal is home to the most prominent Ariser in Andnya. Trozzilt believes Cultantum is on the correct path to reclaiming the illithid empire. His illithids are master spies and they study the surface and learn about it as much as they can. Many of the other colonies think Trozzilt is crazy but because he is one of the oldest living elder brains on Andnya his words carry weight. He is a careful tactician and his colony has thrived because of it.

#cultantum campaign #dnd 5e #illithids #mindflayer #illithid #homebrew setting #homebrew #colony

[cultantumcampaign]

Evil Gods

A strange practice in Cultantum is that many races still worship their "evil" gods. They believe that they were the gods that were with them in hard times and should still be respected. Often they will only practice part of the gods tenets and avoid the less savory parts of their worship. Other have entirely new rituals. Some examples:

Lolth: The drow of Cultantum still worship Lolth. They often see her as a strict mother, pushing them to improve themselves through determination and hard work.

Gruumsh: the orcs of Walking Mountain worship Gruumsh. They believe he raised the mountain and forced it to walk to finally give his people their own land and to keep them save from other races

Vecna: The death clerics of Vecna are probably the most different from normal worshippers of Vecna. They mainly are in Santa Muerta and work to discover the secrets of the undying sands. They often hold confessionals where people can tell them secrets and then lock then away forever. It is a way for someone to get something off their chest without fear of anyone finding out. Venca clerics also hold funerals in the city for anyone who didn't have a religious background or family.

Ilsensine: Worship of Ilsensine has recently become popular in Cultantum. After discovering that their souls did not join an elder brain when they died, the illithids of Cultantum began to worry about their souls and afterlife. A new temple was recently put up in Sakato for Ilsensine.

#cultantum campaign #homebrew #homebrew setting #dnd 5e #evil gods #gods #deities

[cultantumcampaign]

Gith

About 1000 years ago the githyanki tried to invade Cultantum to destroy their illithid population. This resulted in King Olberic flying into the air and biting a young red dragon in half. Since then the gith have refused to invade Cultantum despite knowing there are illithids there.

There are rumors that Vlaakith has even forbid mention of the Hasturen sphere for unknown reasons. Any githyanki that ends up in Hasturen's sphere is considered a lost cause and will not be rescued or retrieved.

It is also unknown if the githzerai are aware of Cultantum's illithid population.

#dnd 5e #illithids #githyanki #githzerai #gith #homebrew #cultantum campaign #homebrew setting

[cultantumcampaign]

More Cultantum Illithid Notes (because I have a problem)

Illithids in Cultantum has slight biological features that are different from other mindflayer. Mostly its their eyes. Regular mindflayers have milky white pupils that help them see in total darkness. The illithids of Cultantum have changed over time to have pupils that can see in sunlight better while still having darkvison. Most Cultantum illithids eyes are blue or green in color with orange or white being very rare.

#cultantum campaign #homebrew #homebrew setting #dnd 5e #illithid #mindflayers

[cultantumcampaign]

Me when starting to world build Cultantum: Okay I going to make sure that I am inclusive to all monsterous races and everyone has their own spot they are represented at

Me now: SQUIDS SQUIDS SQUIDS SQUIDS SQUIDS

#i don't think you understand how much I love mindflayers #liches and undead are a close second though #cultantum campaign #dnd 5e #illithid #mindflayer #illithids #squid #🐙

[cultantumcampaign]

Drew Squild and Orrizz

#cultantum campaign #dnd 5e #Squild #orrizz #illithid #mindflayer

[cultantumcampaign]

Dating Sim

So the illithid discord did a thing for Valentine's day where some people made fake dating sim screenshots for their ocs. And while I don't have the time to draw any I thought I would rate and describe some NPCs "dating sims routes".

Brooke Alistar (Medium): if we are starting with pre-campaign Brooke he is an extremely depressed and traumatized man. However he is still a romantic. Get past the "undead lich" part and he becomes a lover who would sweep you off your feet. Stay with him and help him through his trauma and he will be an eternal companion like no other

Captain Vusiks (Easy): You would think the leader of a massive colony of illithids would be hard to romance. Not true. Vusiks is amorous and loves a good time. Not to mention he is already in a poly relationship. Gain his two bondmates favor and he is all yours.

Olberic (Hard): Okay Okay... he is a massive half insane gold dragon, its not going to be easy. Olberic is a man made of riddles and is not easily swayed to lay beside just anyone. Its difficult to even become his favorite play thing. This is a hard route.

Thats all for now xD

#cultantum campaign #dnd 5e #joke #Valentine'sday

[cultantumcampaign]

Santa Muerte

Santa Muerte is a desert town made up almost entirely of undead. Specifically 2/3rds of its population is undead. This is because the dessert Santa Muerte sits in is called "the Undying Sands" and any creature that dies there comes back to their body as an undead. Luckily anyone who comes back this way retains their intelligence in their new corpse form. For this reason many move to Santa Muerte to extend their time on the material plane. The Undying Sands is full of ruins from an ancient civilization that suddenly disappeared. Their ruins can be found throughout the entire desert including a massive shrine to Pelor and the Nameless Goddess. Santa Muerte is famous for its spicy and flavorful food that uses an ingredient called ethereal cactus. The cactus is one of the few things an undead can eat so many food items are made using it including booze. Funerals are treated as festivals in Cultantum and you often can see the recently undead carried around town on flower covered platforms to celebrate their death. The streets also have special cloth covering to protect the undead that would be hurt by sunlight. Another thing the city is famous for is its perfume production and the wonderful smells mask the smell of rotting flesh.

#cultantum campaign #dnd 5e #homebrew #undead #Sante Muerte #cities #fantasy city #homebrew setting

[cultantumcampaign]

Illithid Society in Cultantum

Around 3000 years ago, in the underdark of Cultantum, King Olberic the Gold went on a genocidal hunt of illithids. Specifically he was out to kill all elder brains in Cultantum's underdark. Whenever he did he would offer the remaining colony a choice: join the surface dwellers above in his kingdom under his rule or perish. Most refused the offer to be subjugated by the gold dragon but a few agreed and brought the brine of their dead elder brain along with their remaining tadpoles.

Without an elder brain to control them the illithids under Olberic's rule changed. They slowly began to gain positive emotions that otherwise were suppressed. While still a hive mind, illithids in Cultantum are much more independent. Some even form friendships with races other than their own. While they still feel superior to most they generally are kinder and integrate smoothly in Cultantum society. Most of their paranoia and taboos are gone as well. They no longer fear the gith since Olberic is fiercely protective of his citizens. They even welcome magic users within their ranks now.

Olberic wanted to give the illithids under his rule a comfortable life without having to kill the other races in his Kingdom. So with the help of the myconids and his best spell casters at his disposal they created a special mushroom. These mushrooms are called cerebral mushrooms and contain the same psyonic and nutritional value of a sentient humanoids brain. While enough to keep a mind flayer healthy they lack the euphoria that absorbing memories from an actual brain gives. So Olberic came up with another plan for his illithid colony. He made them his law enforcement.

When you travel through Cultantum you often will see Illithids wearing wide brimmed black hats. These are Olberic's bounty hunters. They travel Cultantum hunting down criminals for both food and reproduction. They carry with them jars full of brine and tadpoles to insert into criminals they think would make good hosts. If your wanted poster has a black octopus stamped on it them everyone knows you are as good as dead.

The illithids are for the most part happy under Olberic's rule but they have one great sadness, they have no elder brain to surrender their dead bodies to when they die. Mindflayers see joining an elder brain as the greatest privilege in their lives. So the illithids of Cultantum store the brains of their dead in cryogenic chambers, in hopes that one day an elder brain will appear for them to join.

That day is looking soon now, for the first time in 3000 years an Ulitharid has been born. Captain Vusiks is the first ever born under Olberic's rule. He is only 30 but he hopes he can lead his people to fulfillment without envoking the wrath of the dragon king.

#cultantum campaign #dnd 5e #illithid #ulitharid #mindflayers #octopus #homebrew setting

[cultantumcampaign]

One of these days I'm going to write a comprehensive set up for Cultantum but I'm afraid its going to be the size of the Silmarillion

#cultantum campaign #dnd 5e #there is a lot #really i should make it a homebrew setting people can use

[cultantumcampaign]

Cultantum Illithid Relationships

Illithids have unique familial and relationship structures. The entire colony is seen as a family but often groups will form units. When on bounties they will travel in packs of about 3 to 5 members. Because of this illithids often form intimate relationships with their hunting party. Even when with the rest of the colony their groups will stick together. They often eat, sleep and bathe together. Members of these bonding groups can even trust eachother with memories from their host or be entrusted to care for eachother's tadpoles. It is about as close to a romantic relationship as illithids get. Sometimes illithids will form this sort of relationship with people not of their species. This mostly happens with illithids who choose not to be bounty hunters. An illithid can turn into a very clingy friend suddenly if they trust you enough.

Illithids in bonding pairs often will braid their tentacles together when relaxing. Other races compare this to kissing. If in a relationship with another race they often will instead wrap a tentacle around a hand or arm.

#cultantum campaign #dnd 5e #homebrew #homebrew setting #illithid #mindflayers

[cultantumcampaign]

Last night my players learned actions have consequences.

They punched a man in front of local law enforcement. Then went to another city and tried to attack a kenku with a dragon breathed snake familiar on a hunch. Needless to say law enforcement was called again (small reminder that mindflayers are the police in this campaign... and my players are lv3)

So now they staring down a young illithid who is questioning them about how a fire breathing snake that attacked some innocent birdman in a bar, desperately hoping they can fool a mindflayer in a battle of intelligence.

I got asked three times if I was going to kill them 🤣

#cultantum campaign #dnd 5e #dnd stories #illithid #mindflayers #the wizard is the most chaotic thing #i love my players so much

[cultantumcampaign]

Orcs and Orks

This is my bullshit reasoning for why I have both dnd orcs and warhammer orks in my campaign.

Basically an Ork spaceship crash landed on Andnya thousands of years ago, killing the orks, destroying their tec, and spreading a lot of ork spores across the land. Humans, being racist assholes, saw these new orks and thought they were the same as other orcs and just called them the same thing with the two races usually just claiming that the other were the original orcs.

This also has the HILARIOUS implication that Gork and Mork suddenly just appeared in the outer planes or celestial realm and the other gods have no idea why they are here.

Goblins in Andnya worship their own gods, Gork and Mork AND da Bad Moon depending on location and who they have interacted with.

#cultantum campaign #dnd 5e #homebrew #homebrew setting #warhamer 40000 #orcs #orks

[cultantumcampaign]

Cultantum Illithid Foods

Mind flayers have no sense of taste but this hasn't stopped the Cultantum mind flayers from creating a lot of interesting dishes for themselves. Being bounty hunters means being on the road a lot so many of their foods are pickled. They will pickle the brains of those they take from bounties but they also pickle pigs brains. Pigs are very intelligent animals and the ones in Cultantum have over time been bred with mind flayers in mind, making them increasingly more intelligent. The average pig can give a mindflayer enough nutrients for a few days. Octopus, also being very intelligent, are a delicacy for Cultantum illithids and often are bought live around holidays to enjoy. Intellect devourers are mostly kept as pets now instead of also as a food source. Many mindflayers keep one around their living spaces. Cerebral mushrooms are eaten with almost every meal since they contain a lot of psychic energy and enough nutrients to keep a mindflayer healthy for a week. Many illithids grow some in their living quarters.

Cerebral mushrooms are also popular with other races in Cultantum. They are easy to grow and have a taste some describe as being like duck in an earthy sauce. You can find many dishes with cerebral mushrooms in restaurants throughout Cultantum. At home they are often used in stews or baked for a mid week meal.

#cultantum campaign #dnd 5e #homebrew #homebrew setting #mushrooms #mindflayers #illithids #food