Sandy’s Notes USING GHATANOTHOA Images of this horrendous deity retain its terrible power when properly enchanted They are typically made of greenish or brownish soapstone, and when infused with Ghatanothoa’s awful essence, the “eyes” become silvery and glistening Even a hologram or illusion of Ghatanothoa has the same paralyzing effect as the real thing as long as it is a perfect likeness as defined in the influence Player characters have to destroy or obscure the statue, or stop the device or individual projecting the illusion, to save themselves from the mummification Disbelieving an illusion of Ghatanothoa doesn’t help, because it is simply the image’s appearance creating the effect—it doesn’t have to be “real.” Of course, a spellcaster able to project a perfect illusion of Ghatanothoa needs to have seen Ghatanothoa, which means the caster might also be a stiff, immobile mummy But that can be a devious defensive ploy for an awakened demilich: it mummifies itself (costing it little relative to what it has already lost), then creates the Ghatanothoa illusion to guard its skull Even while paralyzed, it can use spells and spell-like abilities to move around and take actions The Lich Arkantos carved a stone golem into the likeness of Ghatanothoa He then had a mobile creature which could move, and attack, and mummify its opponents would appear, most of the people of Mu hid inside their houses (none of which had windows facing the crater) That way, only the hapless folks caught outside would be subject to mummification Ghatanothoa’s icons and statues in their temples are always shielded by a wall or curtain to protect the priests Ghatanothoa’s magic works on the mind as well as the body Completely mindless creatures are actually immune to Ghatanothoa’s mummification, though creatures normally immune to ability damage and drain (such as intelligent undead) notably are not Somewhat ironically, even an undead mummy can be further “mummified” by Ghatanothoa The paralysis caused by Ghatanothoa is not instantaneous When the sequence begins, victims stiffen If the image is then quickly hidden or the victim can somehow get “out of sight,” the effect stops, but otherwise the victim’s fate is a terrible form of suspended animation Soon, the unfortunate transforms into a withered, leathery mummy, totally incapable of movement However, its brain stays alive and functioning, and is in fact magically preserved Ghatanothoa's mummification relies on line of sight, 242 Mummified victims cannot die except by not on actual perception A victim's back can be turned, destruction of their brains Their minds remain active, or eyes can be shut, yet the effect still occurs The god’s aware of their circumstances, and always conscious true image simply has to be revealed to the victim, Most go mad after a few days, months, or years, and without anything blocking it The effect is not visual even if the curse is somehow ended, the madness and can happen even in a dark room Ghatanothoa remains In the awful aftermath of the occasional and its images generate a unique energy that moves Ghatanothoa emergence, the local priests often cut along the same paths as light (though it is invisible) open the skulls of its victims to kill the still-living This energy can be blocked by anything opaque, even brains, as it’s the only way to spare them an eternity of a thin cloth In ancient times, when Ghatanothoa paralyzed horror