VIII Great Old Ones and Outer Gods Alien Mind (Ex) Rootlings possess an alien intellect that is harmful for other minds to contact Anyone who contacts a rootling via telepathy, detect thoughts, or similar effects must make a DC 26 Fortitude save or suffer 1d4 points of Wisdom drain A creature that loses Wisdom from this effect takes twice as many points of Dexterity drain as normal from the rootling’s mummification gaze or Ghatanothoa’s mummification ability This is a mindaffecting effect The save DC is Charisma-based Burst Forth (Ex) When a rootling emerges from the ground, any creatures within its space are automatically pushed to the closest adjacent square to the rootling from their starting position A creature pushed in this way must make a successful DC 31 Reflex save to avoid being knocked prone The save DC is Constitution-based Immobile (Ex) A rootling cannot move once it has burst forth from the ground or a portal; it must use its reposition ability to relocate Mummification Gaze (Su) Unlike Ghatanothoa itself, a rootling’s ability to mummify victims functions as a normal gaze attack This gaze attack has a range of 60 feet, and inflicts 1d4 points of Dexterity drain on a failed DC 26 Fortitude save A creature drained to Dexterity by this effect becomes mummified (see Mummification above in Ghatanothoa’s influence effects) This is a curse effect The save DC is Charisma-based Mummified Hide (Ex) A rootling has tough, mummified flesh that grants it DR 15/adamantine and slashing as long as it hasn’t taken more than 150 points of damage Once it has taken more than 150 points of damage, its damage reduction is reduced to DR 15/slashing Reposition (Su) As a standard action that provokes an attack of opportunity, a rootling can withdraw into the ground or magical portal it is currently protruding from When withdrawn, it is no longer in the immediate vicinity and cannot be targeted At the start of its next turn, it must emerge at a new point somewhere within Ghatanothoa’s area of influence This is a move action The rootling must emerge from the ground or a magical portal (such as an active gate) If it emerges from the ground, it must so in an area occupied only by loose objects and creatures of Large or smaller size, and it affects those creatures with its burst forth ability If it emerges from a portal, the portal must be at least 15 feet across and as long as it remains within that portal, no other creature can traverse the portal of the god, becomes mummified in a most horrible fashion Typically only a rootling or an image of Ghatanothoa is seen Ghatanothoa itself is huge, dozens of meters across However, it can thrust up “rootlings” of itself, which resemble a sort of pseudopod These rootlings generate partial representations of Ghatanothoa’s presence, and can thrust up out of the ground near his volcano home or through a magical portal Ghatanothoa lives in an active volcano looming above the now-ruined capital of Mu, and the lost inhabitants are terrified that Ghatanothoa will emerge above the crater’s lip and mummify tens of thousands at once As a result, the focus of its cult is to propitiate the god so this will never happen This is a religion not of devotion, but of dread They sacrifice victims to Ghatanothoa only so it won’t harm more people While the cult of Ghatanothoa in Mu seeks to avoid their dread god’s horrible wrath, those who have spread the cult to other lands are generally motivated by vicious greed rather than desperate survival, using the god’s power to enhance their own prestige and wealth Their images of the god are used to support their cult status, and to perform sacrifices Ghatanothoa’s Mummification Dotting Ghatanothoa’s form are spheres, sometimes thought of as eyes, but more properly they are portals or seerstones into other, terrible, planes of existence These produce the god’s infamous mummification effect The god’s front is completely covered with these globes, so the effect is most deadly for those that stand before it However, at least a few globes are visible from Ghatanothoa is the god of ancient Mu, now bereft of every angle, so it is impossible to be completely safe in its primary cult All who know of it fear it, because Ghatanothoa’s presence anyone in the god’s presence, or even a true likeness 241