The Apothicon Megathread

[caljitsu]

This is a megathread concerning the Apothicons and different view on them, a product of the cooperation between Caljitsu and Anonymous. The first subject we will discuss are the parallels between the Apothicons and Lovecraft's Mi-Go and Nyarlathotep. After that we will talk about how the Apothicon Overlords could very well be more ancient Elder Gods already existing in the Aether before the Apothicons, the corrupted alien race, came. After that we will discuss the parallels between the Apothicons and Bibical demons and finally, there will be an advocate for why the Apothicons might not be as evil as you think. It's quite a read so I recommend getting something to drink and eat before starting  Enjoy!

The parallels between the Apothicons and Lovecraft
~Anonymous

 

In Lovecraftian tales, the Mi-Go are fungus-based multi-dimensional creatures, extremely varied due to their prodigious surgical, biological, chemical, and mechanical skills. Several Earthly paranormal entities, such as the Tibetan Yeti, are Mi-Go’s, though the most common variant in Lovecraft’s books are those resembling some kind of humanoid crabs. They possess a pair of membranous bat-like wings which are used to fly through the "Aether” of outer space. Sounding familiar?

 

 

What I find interesting in particular is that they are said to be fungus-based. Remember this radio?

Quote

Reporter: "Hey Mr. Rapt, just checking in. So, I'm here, finally, taking in the sights, sounds and smells of Morg City. I know you sent me here to write a piece about the city's bustling nightlife and theater scene, and the characters that inhabit it, but things are getting kinda strange. Even though no one seems to wants to talk about it, something is definitely off about this city. Just last week there was a meteor shower, a freakin' meteor shower! And everybody acted like it was no big thing. Then, the mold showed up, all over the city. In the dark, damp alleys, there's a strange kind of fungus growing. It looks weird, and smells even weirder, but nobody's really said anything. Then people started getting sick. At first it just made them delirious... confused. Then they really got sick. It was like they were wasting away. People finally started talking about it. I spoke to one guy in his 80s, a fruit seller, at a local market. He said a similar thing happened in New England in 1882. When I tried to press him on it, he just lowered his head and ignored me. If you ask me, something definitely ain't right here."

It seems like the meteor shower somehow brought the fungi seen growning in the dark, humid alleys of Morg City. Someone on the reddit made a connection between the New England meteor shower of 1882, the at-the-time ‘Vampire Panic’ and the Buried Town, Purgatory Point. The Vampire Panic was a reaction to an outbreak of tuberculosis in New England, as the disease was thought to be caused by the deceased consuming the life of their surviving relatives. Bodies were exhumed and internal organs ritually burned to stop the "vampire" from attacking the local population and to prevent the spread of the disease. Not only does this remind us of possible Satanic, Apothicon rites being involved in the 115-infected Purgatory Point, but also to a potential connection with the much-later appearing faction that would go under the name The Flesh. Dead eating the living, living eating the dead. Just thoughs

 

Anyhow, back to Shadows of Evil, fungi are known to be able to diffuse a lot of spores and therefore spread rapidly, so could these things be the origins of Apothican influence in the City? Could the meteor shower literally ‘sewed’ Mi-Go? Now before you think we are fighting evolved mushrooms all the time, consider this: Fungi is one of the five major organism kingdoms. The to us known species of fungi are even more diverse than comparing a tardigrade with a human. That being said, fungi originate from the very same eukaryote group as animals and plants do, and they have most likely evolved from the very first multicellular animals, just like we evolved from ancient plant-like. 

 

 

I would like to share one final particular aspect of the Mi-Go: Their ability to transport human consiousness by by removing the subject's living brain and placing it into a "brain cylinder", which can be attached to external devices to allow it to see, hear, and speak. This sounds very much alike to the technology used to transport Maxis from the Crazy Place to Agartha to the House.

 

“Maxis’ brain arrives in Agartha and Doctor Monty decides to step in. Monty brings Maxis’ brain to the house and wipes the Maxis corrupted by Dark Aether from existence.” - Timeline

 

“With Doctor Monty’s help, the Maxis Drone arrives at the house in Agartha. Despite the absence of his soul, Monty recreates a physical manifestation of his Dimension 63 form.” - Timeline

 

The Mi-Go, however, are not the most powerfull race in existence, something far more terrible than you can imagine lays beyond them. They serve a master: Nyarlathotep, the Black Man (note how Black is a synonym for Shadow). Although he is able to shift his physical shape, he is mostly described as a tall, swarthy man. He is frequently associated with the Devil and any other evil spirits named in various cultures and religions around the globe. He wanders the Earth, seemingly gathering legions of followers, his demonstrations of strange and seemingly magical instruments. These followers lose awareness of the world around them and get an impression of the world's collapse. This sounds very much alike to how the Shadowman manipulated the Shadows cast into doing what he wanted, to “prevent the destruction of your world”. 

 

Different than the other Apothicans, the Shadowman seems to, just like Nyarlathotep, able to appear and disappear in any dimension where he wants (with the exception of Agartha). He alone, however, is not able to consume a universe, though he has a very manipulative tongue. He is the harbinger of the Doom that lays beyond him, beyond the Mi-Go: the Outer Gods, the Universe Consumers. In Shadows of Evil, the Shadowman talks the cast into performing Satanic rites, involving the sacrifice of a soul bound to an object. Using this soul’s Life Force, the Apothicans are able to open a small gateway, sending in a Gateworm (possibly the type Apothican that eats the Pack-a-Punch in Revelations, merely in a larval state). Four of these Gateworms are needed to break the Apothican Rift Stone in the City’s undercroft. When this happened, the Apothicans gained full entrance in Dimension 63, starting consuming it.

Will Murray, an American novelist, has speculated that Lovecraft’s image of Nyarlathotep may have been inspired by the inventor Nikola Tesla, whose well-attended lectures did involve extraordinary experiments with electrical apparatus and whom some saw as a sinister figure… Could the Shadowman’s origins lay in scientific experiments done by humans? An artificial demon.

 

 

The distinction between the Apothicons and Overlords

~Anonymous

 

There always was one thing at the Apothicons that I couldn’t understand: How could a humanoid race like the Vril-Ya/proto-Keepers ever evolve into the monstrous abominations that we call the Apothicons. We interprend the Timeline that the explanation for this issue can be summarized in one word: Evolution.

 

“Trapped in the Dark Aether, the corrupted keepers contort and evolve over Eons, ultimately becoming the Apothicons. The desire, above all else, to return to Agartha.”

 

But this just didn’t really work out for me. I mean, this is simply not how evolution works. For evolution, one needs natural selection, survival of the fittest, and how can we have that in a realm of energy where all beings serve the same hivemind? Apart from that, we do encounter more humanoid Apothicons that resemble the ‘handhead’ species of Doctor Monty (the Shadowman) and the Keepers (the corrupted Keepers) as Apothicons; How can it be that they changed relatively so little over time whereas some proto-Keepers have changed into giant universe eating worms?

 

 

So here’s the thing: I think the creatures that we name Apothicons are not the Apothicons. I mean maybe they are classified under that name, and that essentially doesn’t matter, but what I mean is that they have a different origin than the defeated proto-Keepers, the Fallen Angels under the Shadowman. In Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos, the most powerful entities in the Multiverse are the Great Old Ones, the Outer Gods of other Hells and the Elder Gods, existing outside our observable universe and thus in the “space between spaces”. However, their great weakness is the fact that they cannot form a stable and consistent form of matter in our Space-Time. This is they have not yet dominated our universe and why they even have any dealings with humanity. We need to provide them with something within our Space-Time, whether its “opening a door” on this side of reality or providing a part of us (e.g. our souls).

 

While  the story of the proto-Keepers sounds really similar to the mythos of the Vril-Ya, Ancient Aliens and even passages of the Bible, the existence and abilities of the ‘Great Apothicons’ seems to resemble more the story of the Lovecraftian Elder Gods, and their inability of entering our universe by theirselves. Additional evidence for this is the fact that in Shadows of Evil, the Shadowman refers to something more powerful, the ‘Overlords’. In a radio in Tag der Toten, the Apothicon corpse on the bottom of the ocean is literally referred to as an ‘Elder God’. Another similarity already found by ElectricJesus was Shadowman’s similarity to Nyarlathotep. And whose harbinger and messenger was Nyarlathotep in the Cthulhu mythos? Exactly, the Outer Gods.

 

What we do in Shadows of Evil, I interpreted as the following: we sacrifice four souls that allow the Elder Gods to enter. Or, as the Shadowman states it, “your services to the overlords is appreciated, our complete assimilation of this dimension will now proceed”.

How does this work in the grander view of our story? Cal’s deciphering of the Apothicon language clearly shows they function under a Hivemind, and I think that is our missing link. Prior to Civil War between the proto-Keepers, before the schism between Dr. Monty and Mr. Rapt, before he was called the Shadowman and he and his allies were condemned to the Aether, the Elder Gods already existed. They were already out there, in the space between spaces, the realm of energy, the Aether. Their Hivemind was passed over on the corrupted Keepers, corrupting them, making them one of them. They act with the same mind now, the same interests. But their origin is different.

This is why Doctor Monty refers to the Apothicons as the most powerful entities in all the existences that ever existed, this is why Samantha in the pyramid screams that something far more terrible than we can imagine lays there. Before a part the civilization of the proto-Keepers got corrupted and turned into what Monty calls the Apothicons, before the existence of the Shadowman, the Elder Gods were already there.

 

Azathoth, one of the Outer Gods in the Lovecraft mythos^

 

EDIT: So thanks for Rich for noting this but in SoE we got the message that 'the Elders continue to seed space time'. This is what we see in the Revelations intro, as space time is 115! Additional evidence that the Overlords are the Elder Gods and something older and more powerful than the Keepers

 

The parallels between the Apothicons and Satanic Demons

~Anonymous

 

Though we earlier devoted another thread to connections of our story with Revelations (from the New Testament), this part will include a more extensive post about the interesting parallel between the Biblical bad guys and the Apothicans. In the Book of Revelations, two distinct Beasts are being mentioned: The Beast from the Sea and the Beast from the Earth.

 

 

The Beast from the Sea is a contractionary name, as in Revelations it is said to actually originate from the Abyss, an unfathomably deep or boundless space. The word 'Sea' is likely symbolically used, referring to the fact that in the original sense of the Hebrew tehom, the abyss was the primordial waters or chaos out of which the ordered world was created. Some also think the term might refer to the interior of Earth. In later Hebrew literature, the Abyss is often used to refer to the Underworld, either the realm where the dead reside (Sheol) or the realm of the rebellious spirits (Hell). In the latter sense, specifically, the abyss was often seen as a prison for demons. Now all these meanings of the Abyss, whether it is the thing from which the universe was created, the interior of Earth and the abode of the dead or the realm where the demons are imprisoned, it all seems to relate to what is told us about the Aether.

 

"In the beginning there was only the Aether and the Keepers." - Timeline

"The surviving Apothicons were cast out, banished to the dark Aether beneath creation." - Kronorium Excerpt

"The world within the world was turned upside down" - Doctor Monty, Gorod Krovi

 

This Beast from the Abyss, as I rather call it, also bears a real name but this is never given in Revelations. However, his name corresponds to the numerical value 666, also called the 'Mark of the Beast'.

 

"You have the Mark. You are cursed." - Shadowman

 

This Mark can be identified by either the beast's written name, or the numerical value of his name. Without this identification, one could not buy or sell. For this, he was worshipped by mankind and it was the reason why this Beast was reigning the Earth. This too sounds very alike to our encounters in Shadows of Evil, as without the Beast, we are nowhere. We invoke it to power up machines, smash crates and open up doors. Imagine how powerless we are without it, how dependent we are on it.

 

Now let's take a look at the 'Beast from the Earth'. This entity is primarily described in Revelation chapter thirteen and is said to speak "like a dragon". He is also called the false prophet, due to him functioning as the messaging and speaking agent of both the Beast from the Sea and Satan. His purpose is to promote the authority of the first beast with the ability to perform great signs, even making fire come down out of Heaven. It is also him who declares that anyone who does not worship the Beast from the Sea, including those who do not wear his Mark, will be killed.

"Only the cursed will survive"

 

Now among the many broadcasts of GKNova6 relating to the Cold War and Space Race, it also included the following transmission. Remember that this was transmitted back in 2011, during the marketing campaign of Black Ops I:

 

Beware of the beast man.

For he is the devils pawn.

Alone among gods primates.

He kills for sport,or lust,or greed.

Yay he will murder his brother to posses his brothers land.

Let him not breed in great numbers,

For he will make a desert of his home,and yours.

Shun him, drive him back into his jungle layer.

For he is the harbinger of death."

 

This 'Beast Man' is said to be the Devil's pawn. What's more, he is said to be the Harbringer of Death. That reminds me of the following quote of Doctor Monty:

 

"The Shadow Man, the original Harbinger of Doom"

 

That the Shadowman promotes the players to invoke the Beast goes extremely parallel with the Beast of the Earth's role in promoting the authority of the Beast of the Abyss. I believe it was Mattzs who even noted that the Mark of the Beast correlates with three 6's on top of each other: 666.

 

 

It also parallels the Lovecraftian story of Nyarlathotep, the Black Man (note how Black is a synonym for Shadow). Although he is able to shift his physical shape, he is mostly described as a tall, swarthy man. He is frequently associated with Satan and any other evil spirits named in various cultures and religions around the globe. He wanders the Earth, seemingly gathering legions of followers, his demonstrations of strange and seemingly magical instruments. These followers lose awareness of the world around them and get an terrible impression of the world's collapse. This sounds very much alike to how the Shadowman manipulated the Shadows cast into doing what he wanted, to “prevent the destruction of your world”.

 

Still it remains a curious topic how these early Apothican forces could enter this realm of Morg City and have direct contact with humans. The first note that should be made is the Beast from the Earth's magic sign of making fire coming down from Heaven.

 

"Just last week there was a meteor shower, a freakin' meteor shower!" - Reporter

 

In this case, Heaven could be seen as literally (the cosmos) as well as figuratively (115 as 'divine' element). Next thing that is mentioned is a strange fungus showing up all over the damp alleys of Morg City, making the inhabitants sick, delirious and confused. Now, as mentioned in the comments of this thread, we can find books named 'Occultism in the court of Elizabeth I' and 'The Evil Archon' in Der Eisendrache. Both seem to refer to the practices of John Dee, the advisor of the English Queen and also a hobbyist in alchemy, occultism, divination, mathematics and astrology. Also liked to collect ancient Aztec artifacts and other magical-looking idles, crystal spheres and amulets. Now one day he felt like creating a magical diagram, kinda like Ouijaboards, in an effort to make contact with beings from beyond. He succeeded in this, not only contacting them but also summoning them. Initially, these interdimensional creatures were believed to be Angels, sounding just like Jeb Brown, Cornelius Pernell and all the others. However after a while he started to question the motives of these beings, who were presenting themselves more and more as demons than angels.

 

This magical diagram that summoned these beings was called the Seal of God. It looks like this, and it really seems to resemble either Satanic pentagrams or the Apothican octogram we see at various places in Morg City. As we also see this diagram in Blood of the Dead, where we know the Warden created this twisted version of reality, it could very well be possibly that Shadows of Evil was created by someone else performing similar practices. 

 

"Yes! The threshold. One last flash of light and the Sun shall vanish into the sea. The darkness shall spread for every fibre of creation, it shall spread! I shall be its instrument…  I shall bleed the chosen few… The gateway will open and paradise will fall." - Warden

 

But the rituals aren't finished yet. We continue them! We complete them! We allow the rest of the demon spawn that represents the fell Apothicans to enter and consume Dimension 63.

 

The Apothicons as victims of the Past

~Caljitsu

 

Now while these connections could be made between the Apothicans and Judeo-Christian demons, it would be wrong to instantly call them the evil forces in opposition to the 'good forces' of Doctor Monty and the Keepers. Here follows an extensive argument to show you that the multiverse is not that simple as 'good' versus 'evil', but it became somewhat more propaganda-esque as I wrote it, and I lent into this towards the end as it was quite funny. However it definitely has some salient points that highlight very explicit lies we are told in the storyline, and might just change your opinion on the Apothicons.

 

The Parallels are clear, but as the Apothicon Apologist that I've become known as (lol), I can't help but feel the need to step in and give a bit of context to their admittedly often awful actions, and give a possible alternative interpretation on who the real demons are.

 

We are often lead to believe that the Keepers "ascended to become the wards of all existence" after they "defeated" the Apothicons. Note the clear religious imagery; with it, your mind is instantly predisposed into the binary ideal of good-and-evil. I want you to remove that notion from your mind.

 

History is written by the Victors - in this case, the beings we know as Keepers, however the real story (or the closest thing to it), obtained through cross referencing the multiple conflicting accounts of the beginning-time, just as with real history, is far more morally grey. Firstly, however, we have to clear something up, for the sake of ease. The Kronorium in its current form often refers to a race called the "Keepers" - right from the beginning, starting with the first of them, The First One, and progressing right the way through till the end and then back again - endlessly. This is confusing, likely intentionally so, in order to give the modern Keepers a historical precedent for their position, and frame the Apothicons as their eternal adversary - a race so different from the Keepers themselves, they ought to be fought and exterminated.

 

In fact, the Keepers and Apothicons were once a singular species, and this is where the confusion lies. The Kronorium refers to this first race as "Keepers" as well, even though their biology was almost certainly different - most likely, it was that of the beings who would come to be known as Monty and the Shadowman (note how it is the middle point between the biology of a modern keeper and of an Apothicon). To avoid further mix-ups, they will be referred to from here-on-out as "The First Race".

 

Looking at a race so advanced, we would undoubtedly think of them as having some sort of "magic" - indeed like the Judeo-Christian Angels and Demons. However ask yourself this. If you were to journey to an uncontacted tribe with Electricity, Guns, Gas, Smartphones, Cars, Aeroplanes and all of the other products of science, would you be seen as a Scientist? No, you would be seen as a Magician, as a God, as someone with knowledge and power that is so outside of the field-of-view of this culture, that the only solution is for it to be "magic. In excerpts from the Kronorium, we begin to understand the same thing is true with The First Race. In the beginning, The First One did not simply create life from his own imagination, he created a device in order to allow him to manipulate the force he was forged from - the Aether - in order to shape it to his will. Astoth Arbzorark - The All Key (or incorrectly, the "Summoning Key") - a Device of Absolute Power. Before this, The First One existed only within the Aether - likely formless - and so Agartha was created using the device so him and his kin were able to exist physically. The First Race did not use magic to travel vast distances, they "Created the first Transference Device" (in those exact terms). They were a race of scientists, specifically, scientists who's experimentation was with The Aether. It should also be noted that they devised the First Language, the very language inscribed upon both the Summoning Key and the cover of the Kronorium (the only part of the book that does not change)

 

We cannot say for certain how long this went on for, but the experimentation continued relentlessly until, one day, one of the most prominent members of the race, along with his colleges, crafted a device known as the Aether Pyramid - a machine that would be capable of power to a similar degree to that of the Summoning Key. It's interesting then, that only after the ability to manipulate reality is no longer dependent on a singular object (likely held by a single or small group), but instead a known invention, that these fellow scientists who's only crime was experimenting with the same force they had always experimented with, were deemed "corrupted", leading to an all out civil war. Remember, the terms "Dark Aether" and "Corrupted Keeper" come from a particular version of history, approved by a particular Keeper:

 

 

For this transgression against the balance-of-power, those scientists who were lead by the being who would, among many things, be referred to as the Shadowman and Mr. Rapt, were thrown back into the formless Aether, where they were twisted and morphed by the aeons of isolation, however they did keep their language, perhaps a reminder of what they once were. Meanwhile, those who were lucky enough to have chosen the correct side became egotistical, believing themselves to be the sworn protectors of all of existence and branded those under them "Apothicons". They were not Keepers, how could they be? They were demons, devils, and all the lesser races would come to fear them as seen by their appearance in every culture, where they are always slain by the most holy of Angels.

 

And yet, we are all very aware that it was experimentation with the Aether that was the start of the troubles that would befall existence. Monty himself says that it was Teleportation that was the root of all the evil. How appropriate that the very same Keeper who doctored history in order to frame his brethren as evil conveniently forgets that it was he and his kind, long before any conflict among their ranks, developed the first matter transference device - the original sin that doomed everything.

 

By the time we see the "Apothicons". They are seemingly beings of hate, hellbent on ending existence. They no longer have will, but instead share a singular intelligence, allowing them to coordinate dimensional assimilation to an unprecedented level. But the question is, why? The Kronorium would have you believe it is to "return to Agartha", but then why seek to destroy everything, including Agartha? No, I believe during their time in the formless, timeless infinite, they became aware of certain truths. Just as in Buried, Richtofen's time within the Aether Pyramid has granted him knowledge of the cycle that ensnared existence and now his will to break it, I believe the Apothicons have shared this revelation. How can their be an endless cycle if reality itself is no more? The Apothicons have learned the final truth of the Aether, having spent so much time within it: it must end, and so must everything that sprang forth from it. Indeed, it seems they were even willing to attempt to seek alternatives to this, as the Shadowman tried to acquire both the Summoning Key and vital components for the Agarthan Device - the only mechanism in existence capable of ending it and removing the corruption of the Aether that he and his exiles understand all too well.

 

 

[anonymous]

Aw, appreciate your defence of these alien underdogs. This still fits with the tales of the  Judeo-Christian Holy Books when we look, as said earlier, to the concept of the Fallen Angels. This term refers to angels (aliens) that were expelled from heaven (Agartha). Christian doctrine states that the story of these Fallen Angels begins before the history of mankind as they are identified with angels who were led by Satan in rebellion against God. Now whenever you see the word 'rebellion' in a history book, this word can always be used subjectively. In the case of the Vril Ya, this rebellion seems to be the creation of the Aether Pyramid Device, and all of it's consequences. We cannot really pick a side since we don't know what happened: Perhaps Monty's faction wanted to keep the power for himself. Perhaps Rapt's faction wanted to take over the power of Agartha. Likely, there was no 'good' or 'bad side' and each of the parties fought for power.

40 minutes ago, caljitsu said:

By the time we see the "Apothicons". They are seemingly beings of hate, hellbent on ending existence. They no longer have will, but instead share a singular intelligence, allowing them to coordinate dimensional assimilation to an unprecedented level. But the question is, why? The Kronorium would have you believe it is to "return to Agartha", but then why seek to destroy everything, including Agartha? No, I believe during their time in the formless, timeless infinite, they became aware of certain truths. Just as in Buried, Richtofen's time within the Aether Pyramid has granted him knowledge of the cycle that ensnared existence and now his will to break it, I believe the Apothicons have shared this revelation. How can their be an endless cycle if reality itself is no more? The Apothicons have learned the final truth of the Aether, having spent so much time within it: it must end, and so must everything that sprang forth from it. Indeed, it seems they were even willing to attempt to seek alternatives to this, as the Shadowman tried to acquire both the Summoning Key and vital components for the Agarthan Device - the only mechanism in existence capable of ending it and removing the corruption of the Aether that he and his exiles understand all too well.

This is something I have questionized so often, you know. Why do the Apothicans want to consume universes that badly? Monty's "that's just what they do" explanation sounds so implausible that I even start to wonder if his alien race is really that advanced. Personally, I haven't even thought of this explanation. But if they destroy everything, and thereby the Aether, doesn't that only leave the Aether? After all, the Aether was the first, prior to the existence of universes. It really is the prima materia. Another, less sexy, potential hypothesis I had thought of is that the Apothicans might simply function as the Multiverse's detritivores, recycling the energies of consumed universes. Like fungus (ironically) and earthworms transform organic matter into anorganic in the carbon cycle.

 

Last thing I want to say is that often, Fallen Angels were said to tempt humans to sin. Now one thing we cannot deny about the Apothicans is that they seem to get power from sinning people. Take the Warden as example, the prisoners, or, perhaps most notably, the four sinners of Morg City. Only they seem to be able to contact the Shadowman. Why would this be?

[RichKiller]

An important question to address is who writes the Kronorium.
While the book itself has Apothicons symbols, we do see in the timeline page one of the common keeper phrases.

Moreover, it is not clear whether Monty wrote these paragraphs, or did he just approve it. 

Either way, we know the book hides information related to Ultimis Richtofen, such as the origins of the polarization devices.
A very odd entry is the Der Riese one:
Ultimis returns to Der Riese. With his diary, Richtofen plans to use the teleporter to return to the moon and confront Samantha. Unfortunately, the Wunderwaffe DG-2 overload the teleporter and sends them through time — causing Richtofen to drop his diary.

Besides the odd idea that Richtofen was going to confront Samantha without the vrill device and the focusing stone, the book seems to be supportive of Ultimis Richtofen, by saying that the so called accident is Unfortunate. Also this is another example of the Kronorium hiding information pertaining to Ultimis Richtofen's true plans.

One has to remember that the true goal of this timeline page is to make Primis Richtofen to act according to the cycle. Monty wants the cycle to keep on going, since it makes sure that Monty and the keepers remain the winners over the Apothicons, as both creatures have the ability to cross time and space. However Ultimis Richtofen knows a simple lesson in probability: If a event has a non zero probability to occur, even the most tiny probability, across infinite repetitions it will happen - in other words, the cycle will break at one point or another. Ultimis Richtofen prepares the ground to the day it happens. Breaking the cycle is the perfect opportunity for him to full Monty, and perhaps even the Shadowman. As such, the cycle serves Ultimis Richtofen as well. It is not clear whether Ultimis Richtofen is fully manipulated by the Shadowman, which wants to break the cycle as well. Regardless, it seems that Ultimis Richtofen is capable of such actions. Ultimis Richtofen never loses a battle, and even when he seems to lose, it's only a part of his plans. This is also parallel to the Apothicons, which also use the strategy of losing a conflict in order to win a bigger one. The storyline is chaotic because it is about a war of very strong entities, perhaps even gods as Monty would like you to think. The question is whether Ultimis Richtofen is one of these entities, or is he only another pawn. 

[anonymous]

Just for clarity, I merged my thread with Cal's, as they were basically a response upon one another. @RichKiller that's actually a very good observation and I never noticed this subjectivety even in the Timeline. Additional evidence that some party (presumably the Keepers) can use the timeline as a propaganda tool. I'd prefer to use Radzakpak's!

[Mattzs]

I always enjoyed that the faction associated with the most Satanic imagery calls Monty the Devil. And they don't just refer to Monty as the Devil. They identify Monty with many of Satan's other monikers to really emphasize their point.

 

While it is just speculation, I like to think this quote brings to light the real nature of Monty and the Shadowman. I am fond of the idea that the Apothicons were the first to fall to Monty's corruption. Monty is the Devil and has been tormenting creation since the beginning.

The apothicons were the first to sell their souls and served as agents of Monty. However, they rebelled at some point and sought to undo Monty's work. The reason they consume creation is to stop other races from making pacts with the Devil. And their twisted forms serve as a constant reminder of their past.

I also say this because Monty seems to act as a third party. For all the keeper references in the story, they haven't had much of an impact. I think the most we saw of them was in the Apothicon/Keeper war cinematic with Monty.

Yet this is all a theory I tell myself so I can sleep at night.

 

The Biblical imagery is spot on especially considering the Kronorium opens with "In the beginning". Add that to the Apothicons being thrown beneath creation like you have mentioned above and you have a solid Fallen Angel narrative. Also, sorry if this was stated (I'm writing this on mobile, so I might be missing some stuff) but the prima guide for Black Ops 3 makes some mention of Margwas as demonic and leaving behind trails of brimstone (sulfur); another Hellish allusion. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the exact quote.

 

Although the satanic imagery is definitely on purpose, the story does leave it opened-ended whether or not the Apothicons have been sullied by history.

[anonymous]

An interesting idea! Regarding the story of the fallen angels, the Shadowman clearly corresponds with the Devil. But in most other cases, he appears to merely be the serving messenger for a higher power, which he mentions as the Overlords. If we look at the parallel made in the OP, how the Shadowman is similar to the Beast from the Earth, then who is Satan? Perhaps the Judeo-Christian book mixes some stories up and the Shadowman is indeed Satan but perhaps it is one of those Overlords, and who knows, secretly Monty? When Samantha screamed that "something far more worse than you can imagine lays here", to what was she referring? The Apothicans? Doctor Monty? An ancient evil? The Aether?

4 hours ago, Mattzs said:

Also, sorry if this was stated (I'm writing this on mobile, so I might be missing some stuff) but the prima guide for Black Ops 3 makes some mention of Margwas as demonic and leaving behind trails of brimstone (sulfur); another Hellish allusion. 

I never heard of that, that's a really cool intel. Also reminds me of the 'Brimstone to Damnation' wallwriting in Kino. This also makes me wonder how the society of the Apothicans works. We know they have a hivemind and serve a similar goal, but why is there such a variety in species? We can differentiate several types of Margwas, Furies, Parasites, those enormous worms, etc. What strikes me is that many are used not merely as soldiers, but as weapons. Think of the lil Arnies and Apothican servant, who are both clearly living. I initially thought the Insanity Elementals were some kind of bombs, but if you look at their model they appear to have a face and thus I am of the opinion they are actually living creatures. And that giant tentacled beast that is brought into a dimension and used to consume it, almost like a medieval siege engine. Some creatures, like the Insanity Elementals and lil Arnies, are even willing to sacrifice theirselves for the 'greater good'. 

 

These creatures are so different than the Shadowman and Keepers. I just don't see how they could be not only deformed, but rather evolved Keepers. Evolution would mean that their formation fell subject to natural selection, and I just don't see how kamikaze Insanity Elementals were positive selected in their natural environment, the Aether. So could the Apothican creatures, the fell beasts we fight, perhaps be how they serve: Weapons? Manufactured, bio-engineered organic vessels, housing a 'soul' of an Apothican/'corrupted' Keeper. In Der Eisendrache, we see that the spirit of a Keeper (like human ones, perhaps) really can live it's own life, do things, make choices etc. Originating from an extraterrestial civilization that advanced, a civilization that had machines that are powered with Life Force, surely they know enough about Life Force to be capable of transferring them into weapons? So could the Apothicans we see merely be the organic vessels of the souls of the real Apothicans, the corrupted Keepers?

 

EDIT: Thinking about it, why would Monty deliberately use the word 'evolve' in the Timeline? If this is another propaganda tool, it might hide another hideous truth. Perhaps the Apothicans are trapped in those manufactured bodies, by the Keepers. As part of their punishment

[Mattzs]

9 hours ago, anonymous said:

An interesting idea! Regarding the story of the fallen angels, the Shadowman clearly corresponds with the Devil. But in most other cases, he appears to merely be the serving messenger for a higher power, which he mentions as the Overlords. If we look at the parallel made in the OP, how the Shadowman is similar to the Beast from the Earth, then who is Satan? Perhaps the Judeo-Christian book mixes some stories up and the Shadowman is indeed Satan but perhaps it is one of those Overlords, and who knows, secretly Monty? When Samantha screamed that "something far more worse than you can imagine lays here", to what was she referring? The Apothicans? Doctor Monty? An ancient evil? The Aether?

I never heard of that, that's a really cool intel. Also reminds me of the 'Brimstone to Damnation' wallwriting in Kino. This also makes me wonder how the society of the Apothicans works. We know they have a hivemind and serve a similar goal, but why is there such a variety in species? We can differentiate several types of Margwas, Furies, Parasites, those enormous worms, etc. What strikes me is that many are used not merely as soldiers, but as weapons. Think of the lil Arnies and Apothican servant, who are both clearly living. I initially thought the Insanity Elementals were some kind of bombs, but if you look at their model they appear to have a face and thus I am of the opinion they are actually living creatures. And that giant tentacled beast that is brought into a dimension and used to consume it, almost like a medieval siege engine. Some creatures, like the Insanity Elementals and lil Arnies, are even willing to sacrifice theirselves for the 'greater good'. 

 

These creatures are so different than the Shadowman and Keepers. I just don't see how they could be not only deformed, but rather evolved Keepers. Evolution would mean that their formation fell subject to natural selection, and I just don't see how kamikaze Insanity Elementals were positive selected in their natural environment, the Aether. So could the Apothican creatures, the fell beasts we fight, perhaps be how they serve: Weapons? Manufactured, bio-engineered organic vessels, housing a 'soul' of an Apothican/'corrupted' Keeper. In Der Eisendrache, we see that the spirit of a Keeper (like human ones, perhaps) really can live it's own life, do things, make choices etc. Originating from an extraterrestial civilization that advanced, a civilization that had machines that are powered with Life Force, surely they know enough about Life Force to be capable of transferring them into weapons? So could the Apothicans we see merely be the organic vessels of the souls of the real Apothicans, the corrupted Keepers?

 

EDIT: Thinking about it, why would Monty deliberately use the word 'evolve' in the Timeline? If this is another propaganda tool, it might hide another hideous truth. Perhaps the Apothicans are trapped in those manufactured bodies, by the Keepers. As part of their punishment

 

I always viewed that as evidence of his connection to Monty. How they were “good friends”, the Shadowman was Monty’s harbinger, Beast, False Prophet, etc. Hell, even his Mephistopheles. Thank you for indulging my tangent though haha.

 

The Overlords statement was always confusing for me. Maybe the Overlords is the name of the collective hive mind?

 

I always saw the elementals, Margwas, and parasites  as corrupted creatures from the Keeper/Apothicon realm. Maybe their first creations?

Yet, the point about evolution or trapped bodies works very well. If the Apothicons are a collection of microorganisms, then everything else is just a puppet or shell for them. They could be “forced” inside these bodies.

[caljitsu]

7 hours ago, Mattzs said:

 

I always viewed that as evidence of his connection to Monty. How they were “good friends”, the Shadowman was Monty’s harbinger, Beast, False Prophet, etc. Hell, even his Mephistopheles. Thank you for indulging my tangent though haha.

 

The Overlords statement was always confusing for me. Maybe the Overlords is the name of the collective hive mind?

 

I always saw the elementals, Margwas, and parasites  as corrupted creatures from the Keeper/Apothicon realm. Maybe their first creations?

Yet, the point about evolution or trapped bodies works very well. If the Apothicons are a collection of microorganisms, then everything else is just a puppet or shell for them. They could be “forced” inside these bodies.

"Overlord" is, seemingly, the word Apothicons use for the colossal members of their race who are able to consume pure 115 from the Apothicon Sun and spit it into new realities. The Keepers, seemingly, refer to them as "Elder Gods".

[Mattzs]

1 hour ago, caljitsu said:

"Overlord" is, seemingly, the word Apothicons use for the colossal members of their race who are able to consume pure 115 from the Apothicon Sun and spit it into new realities. The Keepers, seemingly, refer to them as "Elder Gods".

Interesting, maybe it’s both?

At first, the Elders appear to be nothing more than interdimensional work beasts. Yet, the Apothicon Blood came from a fallen elder, right?

The reason they appear unintelligent to the outsider is because the Elders are one part of the Hivemind. They could be the muscle of the Apothicons.

In this case, it would make sense for the Shadowman to still revere them as they are a powerful and important extension of the Hivewind’s will.

[anonymous]

Do the Keepers refer to them as 'Elder Gods'? Literally this means the 'old gods', which is interesting since the Keepers self are already considered as gods and ancient.

 

Could the spirits of those Elder Gods be the original masterrace of whatever extraterrestial society we are talking about? The real successors of the First One, but thrown of the throne by Monty and his loyals? Notice how the multiple Elder Gods, and even their current Hivemind is more democratic than the Keepers' sole supreme leader Monty. Also why do the Keepers wear the symbol of the Black Sun, the heart of the Aether?

[caljitsu]

On 5/4/2020 at 9:21 AM, anonymous said:

 

Also why do the Keepers wear the symbol of the Black Sun, the heart of the Aether?

I'd say because they are still Aetheric beings. They are of Agartha and their race is built on the manipulation of the Aether. Notice it's a black sun with a cross through it. We associate the Cross with Christianity, but this is irrelevant here. It could represent a literal barrier. They are the Keepers of the Aether.

[anonymous]

To Newton and the physicists that followed, Time was thought of as an arrow; once shot it can’t change its course and moves linearly in one direction. With Einstein’s Space-Time as described in his Theory of General Relativity, space (and therefore time) could be warped. Thus, instead of Time being thought of as an arrow, it was more like a meandering river. Ever since, several theoretical possibilities for time travel have been found by scientists, the most plausible one being the creation of two wormholes, connected with a “bridge” of negative energy. Matter can be thought of as positive energy, gravity can be thought of as negative energy.

 

However, theoretically the General Relativity allows the possibility of time-travel, in all cases the problem is energy. The amount of energy needed to bend, twist or warp space-time is so high that Einstein’s equations actually break down and quantum theory takes over. Thus, while on paper time travel is possible, it’s the engineering that limits its development. However, many of Lovecraft’s entities are either from dimensions with a different set of natural forces and laws or possibly from outside the known multiverse altogether. Thus, the Old Ones may have the ability to harness these forces and energies and use them to travel multiple space-times. However, the weakness of the Old Ones is the fact that they cannot form a stable and consistent form of matter in our space-time. This is why the Old Ones have not yet dominated our universe and why they even have any dealings with humanity, they are pretty much 'locked out' of our dimension. We need to provide them with something within our space-time, either “opening a door” on this side of reality or providing a part of us (e.g. DNA or blood).This is supported by evidence found in Lovecraft's book “The Dreams in the Witch-House".

 

To summarize the plot, Walter Gilman, a student at Miskatonic University, is working on some multidimensional mathematics and quantum mechanics for his graduate work. Indeed, for time travel since General Relativity begins to break down into the quantum level, both need to be united in higher dimensions – in fact up to 10 or 11 dimensions; our four dimensions plus six to seven others folded and tucked out of our reality. Accessing these higher dimensions may be a way of entering hyperspace, a means to travel vast distances and times. Indeed, this is what both Walter Gilman and the witch Keziah Mason succeed at doing. However, the vast amount of energy needed to open these higher dimensions are not available to us so how do they do this?  Essentially, the available energy is provided by Nyarlathotep, the Black Man, also said to be Satan. Thus, using math or magic (to the Old Ones probably the same thing), one gains access or the attention of the Old Ones. The Old Ones provide the energy needed for this hyperspace travel and get something in return. Signing Nyarlathotep’s book in blood may be providing a sample of DNA the Old Ones need to attempt to enter and remain in our space-time. This sounds very alike to what we see in Shadows of Evil: We make sacrifices and perform accompanying rituals to open up this rift, crack open our universe via this enclosed 'Morg City' pocket.

 

"Complete the ritual! The gateworm's energy must be released!"

 

"A ritual must be performed... a sacrifice must be made... bring me item that links you to the other world." 

 

This idea kinda pursues the plot behind Faust: If scientists, or mankind in general, wants to get a grasp upon what lays beyond, they have to make a pact with the devil. It's a general theme in Lovecraft's stories: humans are but a irrelevant dot in a wide, multi-layered universe. There is so much more, so much powerful out there. 

 

Source: H.P. Lovecraft and Time Travel

[RichKiller]

16 hours ago, anonymous said:

We need to provide them with something within our space-time, either “opening a door” on this side of reality or providing a part of us (e.g. DNA or blood)

"Yours sins serve only as an invitation, an invitation for an evil"

For the Apothicons it has always been about sacrifices. “The Dreams in the Witch-House" tells us that what seems to be the parallel of the Apothicons in lovecraft had sacrificed childern in an attic of a haunted house, living in "special" non-euclidean geometry. I think this lines up pretty well with the zombies storyline... 

[anonymous]

Thank you @RichKiller for your chat yesterday, gave me some interesting thoughts.

You know there always was one thing at the Apothicons that I couldn’t understand: How could a humanoid race like the Vril-Ya/proto-Keepers ever evolve into the monstrous abominations that we call the Apothicons. We interprend the Timeline that the explanation for this issue can be summarized in one word: Evolution.

“Trapped in the Dark Aether, the corrupted keepers contort and evolve over Eons, ultimately becoming the Apothicons. The desire, above all else, to return to Agartha.”

But this just didn’t really work out for me. I mean, this is simply not how evolution works. For evolution, one needs natural selection, survival of the fittest, and how can we have that in a realm of energy where all beings serve the same hivemind? Apart from that, we do encounter more humanoid Apothicons that resemble the ‘handhead’ species of Doctor Monty (the Shadowman) and the Keepers (the corrupted Keepers) as Apothicons; How can it be that they changed relatively so little over time whereas some proto-Keepers have changed into giant universe eating worms?

So here’s the thing: I think the creatures that we name Apothicons are not the Apothicons. I mean maybe they are classified under that name, and that essentially doesn’t matter, but what I mean is that they have a different origin than the defeated proto-Keepers, the Fallen Angels under the Shadowman. In Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos, the most powerful entities in the Multiverse are the Great Old Ones, the Outer Gods of other Hells and the Elder Gods, existing outside our observable universe and thus in the “space between spaces”. However, their great weakness is the fact that they cannot form a stable and consistent form of matter in our Space-Time. This is they have not yet dominated our universe and why they even have any dealings with humanity. We need to provide them with something within our Space-Time, whether its “opening a door” on this side of reality or providing a part of us (e.g. our souls).

While  the story of the proto-Keepers sounds really similar to the mythos of the Vril-Ya, Ancient Aliens and even passages of the Bible, the existence and abilities of the ‘Great Apothicons’ seems to resemble more the story of the Lovecraftian Elder Gods, and their inability of entering our universe by theirselves. Additional evidence for this is the fact that in Shadows of Evil, the Shadowman refers to something more powerful, the ‘Overlords’. In a radio in Tag der Toten, the Apothicon corpse on the bottom of the ocean is literally referred to as an ‘Elder God’. Another similarity already found by @Electric Jesus was Shadowman’s similarity to Nyarlathotep. And whose harbinger and messenger was Nyarlathotep in the Cthulhu mythos? Exactly, the Outer Gods.

What we do in Shadows of Evil, I interpreted as the following: we sacrifice four souls that allow the Elder Gods to enter. Or, as the Shadowman states it, “your services to the overlords is appreciated, our complete assimilation of this dimension will now proceed”.

How does this work in the grander view of our story? Cal’s deciphering of the Apothicon language clearly shows they function under a Hivemind, and I think that is our missing link. Prior to Civil War between the proto-Keepers, before the schism between Dr. Monty and Mr. Rapt, before he was called the Shadowman and he and his allies were condemned to the Aether, the Elder Gods already existed. They were already out there, in the space between spaces, the realm of energy, the Aether. Their Hivemind was passed over on the corrupted Keepers, corrupting them, making them one of them. They act with the same mind now, the same interests. But their origin is different.

This is why Doctor Monty refers to the Apothicons as the most powerful entities in all the existences that ever existed, this is why Samantha in the pyramid screams that something far more terrible than we can imagine lays there. Before a part the civilization of the proto-Keepers got corrupted and turned into what Monty calls the Apothicons, before the existence of the Shadowman, the Elder Gods were already there.

Azathoth, one of the Outer Gods in the Lovecraft mythos^

 

EDIT: So thanks for Rich for noting this but in SoE we got the message that 'the Elders continue to seed space time'. This is what we see in the Revelations intro, as space time is 115! Additional evidence that the Overlords are the Elder Gods and something older and more powerful than the Keepers

[RichKiller]

@anonymous
The Apothicons behaving as a hivemind reminds the way the zombies ruler controls the zombies, after all the MPD is apothicon tech. It also may related as to why the zombies sided with the Apothicons in the great war- no ruler from the side of the keepers (it might be Samantha, but there is not enough evidence to reason about this). It is also possible that the elders are not corrupted keepers. However, with the Kronorium being the only history reference we have (at least that I'm familar with), it's really tough to discuss alternative history. 

[anonymous]

2 hours ago, RichKiller said:

@anonymous
The Apothicons behaving as a hivemind reminds the way the zombies ruler controls the zombies, after all the MPD is apothicon tech. It also may related as to why the zombies sided with the Apothicons in the great war- no ruler from the side of the keepers (it might be Samantha, but there is not enough evidence to reason about this). It is also possible that the elders are not corrupted keepers. However, with the Kronorium being the only history reference we have (at least that I'm familar with), it's really tough to discuss alternative history. 

I don't think it necasserily contradicts the Kronorium though. To quote it specifically, "trapped in the Dark Aether, the corrupted keepers contort and evolve over Eons, ultimately becoming the Apothicons". This name, the Apothicons, could refer to the Keeper-like creatures, while the Elder beings are an ancient, nameless evil, referred to as 'Overlords'. Good note about the MPD, that's a cool connection with the Hivemind. Thinking about it, it could have functioned as a more advanced HAARP-like weapon, controlling the energy flows through all (115-infected) beings and therefore controlling the beings itself.

[83457]

Random fact; 6 6 6 was never six hundred and sixty six except in the Iron Maiden(?) song.

 

6 was the number of incompleteness, of falling short (7 was divinity). Repeating something thrice was like exclamation points. So 666 (six six six) means "really not complete, really missing the mark, failmode activated" et cetera.

 

Just a bit of fyi.

[anonymous]

Looking at the Revelations easter egg, it appeared to me that one has to place an orange egg inside the Apothicon Elder God, in something what appears to function like some kind of ovary or uterus. When killing enough zombies around it, it will hatch into a Gateworm.

Two things:

1. Gateworms are baby Elder Gods? Would explain their ability to generate portals.

2. The egg is fed Life Force to let it hatch. Does that mean the Apothicons consume Life Force? Is this their primary motivation behind assimilating a universe, consuming all the Life Force?

[clueless]

2 hours ago, anonymous said:

1. Gateworms are baby Elder Gods? Would explain their ability to generate portals.

 

While I originally pointed out them being biologically similar, it looks like maybe they go through an evolution process similar to a caterpillar before becoming an "Elder God". But the Elder Gods can only birth the Gateworms before reaching this stage. Either that or it's like the Alien franchise where they go through various stages before ending up at their final stage of Elder God (if this even is their final form).

2 hours ago, anonymous said:

2. The egg is fed Life Force to let it hatch. Does that mean the Apothicons consume Life Force? Is this their primary motivation behind assimilating a universe, consuming all the Life Force?

Apothicon - Ozzoth - Constant Change

 

Element 115 is a transformative element that causes changes by reactions, including life force. Doesn't seem far off to assume consumption of life force is what keeps them alive / allows them to change, not unlike Azathoth from Lovecraft and the Destroyer from Borderlands.