Esoteric Order of Dagon - Revision history

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 ** ''[[Necronomicon]]''
 * Artifacts:
-** The [[Deep One]]s may grant leaders of the Esoteric Order of Dagon "thingumajigs" (Zadok Allen's colloquial term for an object or device) made of some heavy metal like lead, to be dropped down into the water with the proper prayers, spells and incantations to summon up the Deep Ones; Obed Marsh was known to have owned such an object.
+** The [[Deep One]]s may grant leaders of the Esoteric Order of Dagon "[[Stone Tablet of R'lyeh|thingumajigs]]" (Zadok Allen's colloquial term for an object or device) made of some heavy metal like lead, to be dropped down into the water with the proper prayers, spells and incantations to summon up the Deep Ones; Obed Marsh was known to have owned such an object.
 ** [[Deep One]] Gold:  Favored members or their family might own and sometimes wear jewelry fashioned from some strange, shining alloy of Gold and more mysterious metals, worked with designs in bizarre geometric or oceanic themes (including representations of [[Deep Ones]] and other horrors of the deep), including tiaras, diadems, crowns, bracelets, rings, necklaces, breastplates, bracers, armlets, anklets, etc., often constructed in proportions suited to use by Deep Ones and modified to fit humans and/or hybrids.  These items can generally be considered "mundane", but unique items may be enchanted with Mythos magic.
 * Sites:

@@ Line 95: / Line 95: @@
 ** [[Child of Chaat|Children of Chaat]]
 * Old Ones:
-** [[Dagon|Dagon and Hydra]]
+** [[Dagon and Hydra]]
 ** [[Cthulhu]]
 ** [[Chaat]]
 ** [[Zoth-Ommog]]
 ** The "Drowners", [[Bugg-Shash]] and [[Yibb-Tstll]]
 ** [[Idh-yaa]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:46, 12 November 2021
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	** The Old Masonic Hall, headquarters of the Order.		** The Old Masonic Hall, headquarters of the Order.
	** The churches of Innsmouth, which have basically been turned into extensions of the "cult" of the Deep Ones, used as instruments of control over the population of Innsmouth; the Innsmouth churches are shunned by the rest of their respective denominations elsewhere for enshrining a blasphemous subjugation under the Deep Ones, only given the thinnest veneer of a more conventional religion. These churches might be used to recruit new cult members, both in and beyond Innsmouth, using corrupted religion as a gateway into the cult's deeper "mysteries".		** The churches of Innsmouth, which have basically been turned into extensions of the "cult" of the Deep Ones, used as instruments of control over the population of Innsmouth; the Innsmouth churches are shunned by the rest of their respective denominations elsewhere for enshrining a blasphemous subjugation under the Deep Ones, only given the thinnest veneer of a more conventional religion. These churches might be used to recruit new cult members, both in and beyond Innsmouth, using corrupted religion as a gateway into the cult's deeper "mysteries".
		+	* Other resources:
		+	** [[Deep One]] Gold: Obed Marsh constructed a refinery in Innsmouth for the purpose of refining Deep One artifacts into gold, which Obed used for personal profit in the early days of his partnership with the Deep Ones; EOD cultists may use this gold as a resource for issuing bribes, buying goods and services, recruiting new members, etc.
		+	** The Innsmouth fishing industry: at the height of Innsmouth's cooperation with the Deep Ones, the Innsmouth fishing industry flourished, thanks to the Deep Ones manipulation of natural resources to direct fish toward Innsmouth, away from competition; Deep One meddling may have caused the "bad luck" that helped drive Innsmouth fishermen to take the cult's Oaths to begin with, and certainly withdrew their "good luck" after the Innsmouth folk tried and failed to rebel against the EOD. The Deep Ones might use such manipulation of the fishing industry in Innsmouth and other target markets - turning the availability of fishing towns' food and income on and off at a whim - to coerce their "cultists" into cooperating with the Deep Ones and carrying out their will on earth.

@@ Line 70: / Line 70: @@
 ** [[Deep One]] Gold:  Favored members or their family might own and sometimes wear jewelry fashioned from some strange, shining alloy of Gold and more mysterious metals, worked with designs in bizarre geometric or oceanic themes (including representations of [[Deep Ones]] and other horrors of the deep), including tiaras, diadems, crowns, bracelets, rings, necklaces, breastplates, bracers, armlets, anklets, etc., often constructed in proportions suited to use by Deep Ones and modified to fit humans and/or hybrids.  These items can generally be considered "mundane", but unique items may be enchanted with Mythos magic.
 * Sites:
-** Innsmouth:  The Esoteric Order of Dagon rules the town of Innsmouth, MA with an iron claw.
+** Innsmouth:  The Esoteric Order of Dagon rules the town of Innsmouth, MA with an iron claw, and has integrated itself into all of the town's institutions.
 ** Devil Reef, off the shore of Innsmouth, is considered a holy place among members of the Order, and is known as a meeting place where [[Deep One]]s are summoned and bargains and treaties are struck.
 ** The Old Masonic Hall, headquarters of the Order.

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:31, 11 June 2017
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	As a result of the intermarrying with the inhuman [[Deep One]]s, many members of the EOD bear the so-called "Innsmouth Look", a degenerative genetic disorder that appears mildly in youth, and grows more extreme as the victim ages and begins looking more and more like their inhuman amphibian Deep One side of the family. The older and least human-looking members tend to be hidden away out of sight, locked in basements and attics, awaiting the time when the change is advanced enough that they may swim into the ocean and dwell among the immortal Deep Ones forever.		As a result of the intermarrying with the inhuman [[Deep One]]s, many members of the EOD bear the so-called "Innsmouth Look", a degenerative genetic disorder that appears mildly in youth, and grows more extreme as the victim ages and begins looking more and more like their inhuman amphibian Deep One side of the family. The older and least human-looking members tend to be hidden away out of sight, locked in basements and attics, awaiting the time when the change is advanced enough that they may swim into the ocean and dwell among the immortal Deep Ones forever.

−	The secretive members of the EOD may keep a low profile in daylight or wherever they might be seen by strangers; many of the more visible (typically younger) members may be indistinguishable from normal humans, aside from any mild signs of [[Deep One]] ancestry. During religious services, aging priests of the EOD typically wear dark robes and veils to conceal their features, and elaborate golden jewelry and elaborate mitres (tiaras, diadems, or crowns) of alien Deep One workmanship. ~~More well~~-to-do rank-and-file members of the cult might wear the outdated "Sunday best" outfits of their local towns; poorer members may dress in rags, and those showing the most advanced signs of the "Innsmouth Look" might wear no clothing at all.	+	The secretive members of the EOD may keep a low profile in daylight or wherever they might be seen by strangers; many of the more visible (typically younger) members may be indistinguishable from normal humans, aside from any mild signs of [[Deep One]] ancestry. During religious services, aging priests of the EOD typically wear dark robes and veils to conceal their features, and elaborate golden jewelry and elaborate mitres (tiaras, diadems, or crowns) of alien Deep One workmanship. Well-to-do rank-and-file members of the cult might wear the outdated "Sunday best" outfits of their local towns in combination with jewelry of Deep One workmanship; poorer members may dress in rags, and those showing the most advanced signs of the "Innsmouth Look" might wear no clothing at all.

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 ==History and Scope==
-The Esoteric Order of Dagon is based in Innsmouth, Massachusetts, between the 1830s and 1920s.
+The Esoteric Order of Dagon is based in [[Innsmouth]], [[Massachusetts]], between the 1830s and 1920s, with some possible survival in Innsmouth after the raid in 1928, and perhaps in cells or splinter groups outside of Innsmouth; the cult may also have existed in primitive forms in Polynesia and elsewhere before Obed Marsh discovered it and founded the modern version in the 1830s.
 The cult has ancient origins under other names in the shadowy interactions of the amphibious [[Deep One]]s with humanity, but the Esoteric Order of Dagon itself seems to have been formed in the 1830s after privateer Captain Obed Marsh bargained with the Deep Ones of Devil Reef near the fishing village of [[Innsmouth]], Massachusetts, which then was suffering from economic problems as its fisheries dried up (apparently the result of interference from Deep Ones), and Obed Marsh's source of Deep One gold dried up.  The Esoteric Order of Dagon soon replaced orthodox religion and [[Freemansonry]] in the spiritual and social lives of the folk of Innsmouth, reaching its height of power in that town by October, 1926, when intervention from the United States government put the original cult to a sudden and fiery end.

@@ Line 101: / Line 101: @@
 ==Heresies and Controversies==
 * The EOD was not exterminated in the Innsmouth Raid of 1927:
 ** Small groups of refugees fled Innsmouth, taking their own splinter offshoots of the EOD with them.
@@ Line 106: / Line 111: @@
 * Obed Marsh may have founded isolated branches of the Order in other towns in America, some under other names.
 * The EOD is not alone:  Deep Ones have created similar cults in remote coastal areas around the world, under other, local names tailored to each local population.
 ==Keeper Comments==

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 === Time Line ===
 # 1820s:  Innsmouth fisheries go barren.  Obed Marsh contacts a peculiar island tribe in the East, and imports gold traded from them.  Obed imports a "peculiar, secret... debased, quasi-pagan" cult "from the East".
 # 1830s, Early:  Era of prosperity for Innsmouth in refining gold of mysterious origin.
@@ Line 21: / Line 22: @@
 # 1873:  "Drunken Innsmouth man" pawns a remarkable, alien tiara at a Pawnshop in Newburyport Historical Society, and dies in a suspicious "brawl" a short time later; Marsh family soon afterward try to re-obtain the tiara.
 # 1878: Obed Marsh dies, and Innsmouth festers.
-# 1927, July:  Zadok Allen reveals secrets of Innsmouth and what the Deep Ones are about to unleash upon the world.
+# 1927, July:  (main story events of "[[The Shadow Over Innsmouth]]"); Zadok Allen reveals secrets of Innsmouth and what the Deep Ones are about to unleash upon the world.
 # 1927-1928: Raid on Innsmouth.
 # 1928, February:  Public becomes aware of the raid, and begins inquiring unsuccessfully into the scope and nature of the raid and disposition of the Innsmouth folk detained in the raid.
@@ Line 30: / Line 31: @@
 # Second Oath of Dagon - Loyalty
 # Third Oath of Dagon - To take a Deep One mate and sire/bear a child
 All the people of Innsmouth were required to take the First Oath of Dagon, to keep silent about the Order, the [[Deep One]]s, and their plans.  All members of the Esoteric Order of Dagon must additionally take the Second Oath, loyalty to the Order.  Certain "favored" families (those who seek special favors, and the most powerful, influential, and dangerous families) may additionally be required to take the Third Oath, to mingle the blood of their family with the Deep Ones through interbreeding.
@@ Line 42: / Line 45: @@
 ===Psychology and Behavior===
-The Esoteric Order of Dagon ruled Innsmouth between the 1800s and 1920s with terror, extorting silence from the people of Innsmouth, requiring oaths of loyalty from its members, and forcing many of its members to interbreed with alien horrors.  As a result, even the least loyal members of the EOD are difficult to trust, have difficulty trusting outsiders, and exist in a shadowy world of secrecy, shame, and horror concerning the EOD and about anything involving Innsmouth and the Mythos.
+The Esoteric Order of Dagon ruled Innsmouth between the 1800s and 1920s with terror, extorting silence from the people of Innsmouth, requiring oaths of loyalty from its members, and forcing many of its members to interbreed with alien horrors.  As a result, even the least loyal members of the Order are difficult to trust, have difficulty trusting outsiders, and exist in a shadowy world of secrecy, shame, and horror concerning the Order and about anything involving Innsmouth and the Mythos.
-Thus, many members of the EOD are motivated to join and support the cult only through terror and shame.
+Thus, many members of the Order are motivated to join and support the cult only through terror and shame.
 Others willingly join, tempted by [[Deep One]] gold and food, magic and knowledge, a chance at immortality, the perverse opportunity to interbreed with monsters, dictatorial power to control, manipulate, and exploit less favored humans under the Deep Ones' control, the chance to transform into an aquatic form, and other benefits of willingly conspiring with the [[Deep One]]s.
@@ Line 50: / Line 53: @@
 Some of the most fanatic and dangerous members are motivated by loyalty to family who are members, or by loyalty to their Deep One ancestry, or by some deeply-held love, belief, or worship for the Deep Ones or their alien gods.
-For their part, the [[Deep One]]s seem to benefit the most from their "symbiotic" (or parasitic) relationship with humanity through the EOD:  the Deep Ones extort secrecy and cooperation from the EOD's membership for their own sinister ends, enjoy the benefits of trade in goods produced by human hands, and twice a year extort human sacrifices of human youths who are taken away into the darkness and the depths as breeding stock and worse for their Deep One captors, and the Deep Ones use human collaborators to breed an army of more or less terrestrial human servants and warriors who can pass unseen among the Deep Ones' human enemies.  In exchange, human members of the EOD are allowed to subsist on fish provided through mysterious means by the Deep Ones, and favored servants are granted immortality, gold, spells, power over less favored humans, and other dubious "gifts".
+For their part, the [[Deep One]]s seem to benefit the most from their "symbiotic" (or parasitic) relationship with humanity in Innsmouth through the Esoteric Order of Dagon:  the Deep Ones extort secrecy and cooperation from the Order's membership for their own sinister ends, enjoy the benefits of trade in goods produced by human hands, and twice a year extort human sacrifices of human youths who are taken away into the darkness and the depths as breeding stock and worse for their Deep One captors, and the Deep Ones use human collaborators to breed an army of more or less terrestrial human servants and warriors who can pass unseen among the Deep Ones' human enemies.  In exchange, human members of the Order are allowed to subsist on fish provided through mysterious means by the Deep Ones, and favored servants are granted immortality, gold, spells, power over less favored humans, and other dubious "gifts".
 === Celebrations ===
@@ Line 64: / Line 67: @@
 ** ''[[Necronomicon]]''
 * Artifacts:
-** The [[Deep One]]s may grant leaders of the Esoteric Order of Dagon "thingumajig" (object or device) made of some heavy metal like lead, to be dropped down into the water with the proper prayers, spells and incantations to summon up the Deep Ones; Obed Marsh was known to have owned such an object.
+** The [[Deep One]]s may grant leaders of the Esoteric Order of Dagon "thingumajigs" (Zadok Allen's colloquial term for an object or device) made of some heavy metal like lead, to be dropped down into the water with the proper prayers, spells and incantations to summon up the Deep Ones; Obed Marsh was known to have owned such an object.
-** [[Deep One]] Gold:  Favored members or their family might own and sometimes wear jewelry fashioned from some strange, shining alloy of Gold and more mysterious metals, worked with designs in bizarre geometric or oceanic themes, including tiaras, diadems, crowns, bracelets, rings, necklaces, breastplates, bracers, armlets, anklets, etc., often constructed in proportions suited to use by Deep Ones and modified to fit humans and/or hybrids.  These items can generally be considered "mundane", but unique items may be enchated with Mythos magic.
+** [[Deep One]] Gold:  Favored members or their family might own and sometimes wear jewelry fashioned from some strange, shining alloy of Gold and more mysterious metals, worked with designs in bizarre geometric or oceanic themes (including representations of [[Deep Ones]] and other horrors of the deep), including tiaras, diadems, crowns, bracelets, rings, necklaces, breastplates, bracers, armlets, anklets, etc., often constructed in proportions suited to use by Deep Ones and modified to fit humans and/or hybrids.  These items can generally be considered "mundane", but unique items may be enchanted with Mythos magic.
 * Sites:
 ** Innsmouth:  The Esoteric Order of Dagon rules the town of Innsmouth, MA with an iron claw.
 ** Devil Reef, off the shore of Innsmouth, is considered a holy place among members of the Order, and is known as a meeting place where [[Deep One]]s are summoned and bargains and treaties are struck.
 ** The Old Masonic Hall, headquarters of the Order.
 ==== Innsmouth ====