Zalgo (3.5e Elder Evil)

Zalgo
"While I undertook this task under my own misguided ambitions, may these obscured words following provide not a curse and corruption, hopefully salvation. May only strong minded and those blessed of greater will than mine own read forth from here.

I learned what I could. It was too much.

Composing this final text is done with difficulty as my mind hangs upon the precipice of sanity, overlooking an edge, doomed, from which I can never hope to recover and who's fall shall mean worse things than death.

Be warned, for as you read, I am now dead, and this warning may perhaps be the only path to your salvation as it may also be to your undoing as you are lost as I now am.

I have discovered a thing, an eldritch abomination beyond our knowing or ever knowing. The more you know of it, the greater danger of corruption within you are.

It speaks. Voice all around. Constantly. I've left out what I can to keep you safe enough. Enough. What I write is only my own theories, though all differing views may still hold true to it. I present to you below what I know of Zalgo, He Who Waits Behind the Wall."

"To invoke the hive-mind representing chaos.

Invoking the feeling of chaos.

Without order.

The Nezperdian hive-mind of chaos. Zalgo.

He who Waits Behind The Wall.

ZALGO!"

Background
"Summary::The Nezperdian hive-mind of chaos. An eyeless abomination with seven mouths. In his right hand he holds a dead star. In his left, the Candle Whose Light is Shadow, stained with the blood of Am Dhaegar. Six mouths speak in different tongues. When the time arrives, the seventh shall sing the song that ends it all.

I theorize that Zalgo is the fusion of the minds of a group known as the Nezperdians, who had achieved total unity through a telepathic network in hopes of formulating a way to save their dying multiverse as represented by his dead star. Though a solution had been found in the Candle Whose Light is Shadow as their multiverse collapsed, it cost them their material form. Their entire world, Am Dhaegar, slipped through their vanishing fingers, swallowed whole in screams of madness. United, in endless void, they waited. It waited. It waits.

How long did it wait for stars and gods to be born anew. As it watched, this new place could not be touched, grasped, felt. It waited still, disconnected, unable to bring back its world. Jealousy, hate and despair fueled it, driving it's immense, endless thoughts into twisted, clawing, rasping fingers seeking to pierce our world and drag it into the nothingness with it."

Knowledge of Zalgo spreads Corruption (see below). Whenever making an appropriate Knowledge (history) check, characters are allowed a Will save to prevent adding to their Corruption Score, regardless of their skill check result.

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (history) can research Zalgo to learn more about it. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs (forcing another Will save for each lower result).

Goals
"Corruption. Corruption of the innocent and gentle, of form and function, of sanity and thought. Every attempt is a test, to change our world, our make and stuff, into the stuff of its own making. The boundary lifts between object and living flesh.

The air grew dark. Light unable to breathe, choked out by Zalgo. Tenebrous tentacles reached out from walls and floors and the flesh of those nearby, caught mad and screaming. Tearing at their eyes, bleeding darkness from their mouths, discordant. Screams from mouths on hands, pulling those into darkness.

There was the sounds, crunching, squelching, whispers. The children missing. The children returned. The herald, tall and pale and wrong.

The herald spread the corruption faster. Through it, words of madness and monstrosity. Fields of eyes and maws, singing in echoes, peering through our world and into the void, bringing it with.

The fear spread fast, those easiest fell to it first. To see such innocence twisted, their beloved fell next. The stars shifted in the sky. The wall fell away. We have such wonderful sights to show you. We believed in nothing. Thought was gone. Replaced by something less or eternally more.

Over the edge I fall. We are waiting."

Knowledge of Zalgo spreads Corruption (see below). Whenever making an appropriate Knowledge (the planes) check, characters are allowed a Will save to prevent adding to their Corruption Score.

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can research Zalgo to learn more about it. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs (forcing another Will save for each lower result).

Zalgo in the Campaign
Zalgo first establishes a connection to our multiverse by attaching to an artifact, increasing the amount of knowledge about it in an area, spreading corruption.

Touching this corrupted artifact subjects the creature to a Will save (DC 10) or gain 1 point of corruption. Every hour the artifact is held, the creature must make another Will save or gain another point of corruption, increasing the DC by 1 for each hour, successful save or not. The DC does not reset for any individual creature if the artifact ever leaves it's possession. A creature need only save once per hour (if it picks up and puts it down repeatedly for example).

Once localized Corruption is high enough and an individual reaches a Corruption Score of 10, the victim is transformed into Zalgo's herald, often a slenderman. Later corrupted victims are transformed into various thralls and other abominations to serve its goal.

Destroying the attuned artifact will (temporarily, at least) sever Zalgo's connection to our multiverse. What happens after that is at the DM's discretion. Commonly, things begin to restore to normal, unless a Gate of Zalgo had been constructed (serving as a new connection point).

Description
"He Waits Behind The Wall, in a palace of tortured glass, served by legions forged from the tears of the sleepless dead and clad in armor carved from the suffering of mothers. In his right hand he holds a dead star, and in his left hand he holds the Candle Whose Light is Shadow. Hands stained with the blood of Am Dhaegar. Sings the song that ends. The Hive-mind of Nezperdian perplexes the mortal soul, perpetuates torture and damnation. The eyes are taken. The windows of the soul. Only pain, forever. Remove the eyes, remove the soul. The still-living cursed husk, testament to cruelty and eternal suffering. It cannot be stopped. Fear cannot be stopped. It is inseparable from reality, beyond the veil, waiting."

Zalgo has no definitive appearance, for no eyes have ever gazed directly upon it. Those glimpses of the maddened describe a great many things in their suffering. Common descriptions mention a lack of eyes in the darkness as well as some of the greater malformations upon the unlucky along with other varying details apparent only to the victims of such corruption.

Sign
Sign::Corruption

The sign of corruption gives creatures a "Corruption Score" based on the level of knowledge it possesses of Zalgo, where 1 is gaining basic knowledge and 10 is total transformation into an abomination (for PCs, this means the character is removed from the player's hands, as it is no longer playable).

As a creature gains more knowledge, its corruption score changes as detailed on the table below.

Illusions and hallucinations are at the discretion of the DM, as they are highly varied. Commonly occurring hallucinations include the appearance of natural weapons or growths on the corrupted creature, the distortion of visual perception (distances appear shortened, lengthened or bent and warped as well as words being obscured or replaced in text) and the distortion of auditory perception (strange silences, whispers, sudden yowling, distorted voices and sounds and discordant music).

Physically separate hallucinations might include shadowed figures which keep their faces turned away from the creature, mangled corpses, hovering abominations, oozing fountains and pools of unknown shadowy liquids as well as tentacles erupting from surfaces in clusters.

Faint: Rumors of kidnappings begin to circulate, usually pertaining to missing children. News of missing or recovered obscure artifacts becomes common discussion. Items turn up missing or misplaced. Communication is hampered with misheard words. Strange monsters may appear with features that hint that they were transformed into their current state.

Corruption at this level is fairly benign, limited to paranoia and suspicion.

Moderate: Rumors of cultists in the area devoted to dark far-planar mysteries begin to spread. With further investigation, the cultists have been worshipping a herald and the greater power that it serves, preparing the area for infection of corruption and manifestation of the elder evil.

Corruption at this level is more disturbing, more likely to result in terror than confusion. These corruptions are usually malicious but not directly violent or lethal. Kidnapped victims are often mutated and corrupted to varying degrees. Commoners gain minor mutations, distortions and odd growths.

Reduce Knowledge skill check research DCs by 5.

Strong: Commoners and low-level NPCs spread panic and paranoia in the face of uncontrolled and unmanaged "plague of mutation and corruption". Social unrest leads to riots and constant patrols of troops attempting to keep a handle on the chaos. The herald of the elder evil begins taking an active roll in corrupting the populace.

Corruption at this level is purposeful and violent. Nearby water sources turn black. Mutations become more pronounced and may turn violently against their hosts.

Reduce Knowledge skill check research DCs by 10.

Overwhelming: It becomes known (often through screams or whispers of the corrupted) that a Gate of Zalgo has been constructed and the ritual to open it has undergone initial preparations.

Corruption at this level now scales on the Overwhelming Score column as noted above on Table: Corruption.

Reduce Knowledge skill check research DCs by 15.

Removing the Signs
Spells that remove or alter a creature's memories have a chance to remove 1d6 points of Corruption. A limited wish can be cast to remove 2d6 points of corruption (along with any memories from their source), while a wish or miracle removes all of a creature's Corruption (along with any memories from their source).

Malefic Properties
Anathematic Secrecy: Immune to all divine divination spells and effects.

Property: Dark Visiting.

Encounter Information
The cultists, tainted followers and the herald have succeeded in assembling a Gate of Zalgo, intent on opening it and summoning forth Zalgo to sing the song that ends it all. They gather around the gate with the tainted artifact at hand. The area is under an Overwhelming sign.