Didymus Whateley
Didymus Whateley
Origin: "The Tree-House" by Robert M. Price based on ideas by Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire
Contents
In the Mythos
In "The Tree-House", the Whateley "twins" from "The Dunwich Horror (fiction)" were actually triplets, Wilbur and his brother having a third sibling named Didymus, with Lavinia's disappearance actually caused by her being spirited away by Didymus, with Lavinia and Didymus living together in a treehouse (the "tree" itself being a Shoggoth or a Dark Young, depending on your interpretation). Didymus is essentially stuck looking somewhat childlike in appearance and proportion, but still human-looking, and has been continuing the work of his branch of the Whateley clan ever since.
Trivia
- Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire seems to have destroyed the original version of "The Treehouse" many years ago, and believed the majority of the published story and its ideas/imagery are entirely Robert M. Price's, with only a character named John Whateley and the Treehouse being original to WHP; the published version of "The Tree-House" reportedly seems to be about 50-50 split between WHP and RMP: the start is mainly WHP with revisions and additions by RMP and the ending is almost entirely RMP with WHP's original ending being replaced with a completely different one. The character of Didymus Whateley was created by RMP and does not appear in WHP's original version; that story instead features familiar Sesquan character [Robert?] Nelson the child of Sesqua who appears in a number of WHP's early Sesqua Valley tales.
- The name Didymus is Greek for "twin"; Arius Didymus of Alexandria was a 1st Century BC Stoic philosopher and teacher of Augustus. Fragments of his handbooks summarizing Stoic and Peripatetic doctrines are preserved by Stobaeus and Eusebius, attributed to "Arius"; that his full name is Arius Didymus we know from Eusebius, who quotes two long passages of his concerning Stoic views on God; the conflagration of the Universe; and the soul. Thomas the Apostle ("Doubting Thomas") was also known as Didymus, and a number of other scholars, theorists, philosophers, and writers have born the same name.
Keeper Notes, Heresies and Controversies
- Didymus Whateley comes across as very intelligent and ambitious, at least on par with Wilbur and Wizard Whateley, so I've always thought that he'd make a great master villain for a campaign. (Dante7)
Associated Mythos Elements
- cults and characters:
- Whateley (family)
- Lavinia Whateley (mother)
- races:
- Dark Young (serves as a "tree-house" for the character)
References
- YSDC discussion:
- fiction:
- "Tree-House" by Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire, original version published in Cyaegha #19
- "Tree-House" by Robert M. Price and Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire
- "A Psalm for Didymus Whateley" by Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire
