History Literature / TheCharnelGod

* OurGhoulsAreCreepier: Ghouls are among the creatures inhabiting the future world of Zothique. They are humanoid beings comparable to jackals and hyenas; they have a crouching posture, their faces are half anthropomorphic and half canine, their fingers end in curving talons, their spiky teeth are longer than coffin nails, and while they can talk human languages, the growls and laughter of the jackal and the hyena come more natural to them. Ghouls are capable of near-unmatched speed and enjoy immortality. One clan has become the priests of the deity Mordiggian and inhabit his temple in Zul-Bha-Sair, which they only leave upon news of a death in order to bring the corpse to their god. In their profession as priests, they wear silver masks shaped like human skulls, flowing purple robes, and fingerless gloves. It is said that the priests are shrouded so in order that no one gazes on them that have seen Mordiggian, but this may be a lie to conceal the fact that the priests are ghouls and keep the human population compliant. It is rumored and likely that Mordiggian, who consumes corpses, shares his food with his priests. Corpses brought to the temple are generally not eaten immediately, but set aside until they're just a little rotten. A rumor regarding this treatment is that the corpses are put to use in dark rites and other ill practices before Mordiggian claims them. This may or may not be true, but it is true that in return for many more corpses, the priests made a deal with the necromancer Abnon-Tha that he could experiment with their stash as long as he never removed a single corpse from temple grounds.

Phariom and his wife Elaith are political refugees from Xylac on their way to Yoros. They make it to Zul-Bha-Sair, where they hope to recuperate before continuing their journey. It doesn't cross their minds that the metropolis houses the temple of the ancient deity Mordiggian. Mordiggian leaves the living to themselves, but any corpse found within Zul-Bha-Sair's borders is his to consume, be it native or a foreigner's. Elaith suffers cataleptic seizures and is left comatose after another attack induced by stress. She is declared dead and Phariom is powerless when the priests of Mordiggian forcefully claim the corpse. With no one to turn to, he resolves to enter the temple at night and do what he can to save Elaith. Meanwhile, a woman named Arctela has secretly been murdered by her suitor Abnon-Tha in a bid to take her from her fiancé Alos. Abnon-Tha's plan is to enter the temple at night, reclaim Arctela's corpse, and enchant it to be his obedient undead lover. With him are his students Narghai and Vemba-Tsith. As fate would have it, Elaith and Arctela are stored next to each other and Vemba-Tsith wants to try to enchant Elaith's corpse for himself. Phariom witnesses the trio taking away the women's corpses and follows them, but stays hidden until Elaith's awakening, which coincides with Arctela's resurrection, necessitates action. Outnumbered, his and Elaith's chances of escape are slim when suddenly Mordiggian shows up. He consumes Arctela as per his divine demand and sics his priests on the three sorcerers to maul them to death. One priest stops to inform Phariom and Elaith that they are free to leave, because neither of them is dead. The couple doesn't need to be told twice.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Mordiggian and his priests follow a black-and-white principle: corpses in Zul-Bha-Sair are theirs and the living are none of their concern unless they infringe on the aforementioned claim on corpses. To ensure they get their corpses, doctors and other officials are expected to report any death immediately so that the priests can promptly fetch the body. For one, this means that loved ones do not get time to grieve with the body unless they come to Mordiggian's temple, where the bodies are stashed until early rot anyway. Nobody does this because it's unsettling and dehumanizing. For two, it means that any murder investigation is hampered by the inability to look for clues on the body. And for three, it means that there's a relatively high risk of people getting erroneously declared dead. In such a case, they are free to leave when they wake up. It's unclear if Mordiggian can tell whether or not someone is truly dead, but his priests certainly can't. Furthermore, while the priests don't lift a finger themselves against anyone but corpse-snatchers, they are perfectly willing to make deals with murders if they get more corpses out of it.
* BuriedAlive: Elaith suffers cataleptic seizures and one leaves her comatose in Zul-Bha-Sair. A doctor called to her aid believes her to be dead and informs the priests of Mordiggian, who immediately come to fetch the corpse despite the attempts of Phariom, Elaith's husband, to explain an error has been made. Elaith is carried off to the temple of Mordiggian and laid with the other corpses to ripen. Aside from not knowing when she'll wake up, Phariom also fears that if he doesn't rescue her as soon as possible, she might wake up to very unpleasant surroundings and die of fright anyway. Fortunately, Elaith awakens just as Phariom reaches he and the both of them are let go because Mordiggian does not lay claim on the living.
* DamselInDistress: Elaith's entire purpose to the story is to go comatose, be mistaken for dead, get taken to Mordiggian's temple unjustly, awaken at a time that's simultaneously convenient and inconvenient, and be rescued by her husband. She's never even fully lucid during the events of the story, starting comatose and ending hanging onto her husband for support as they leave the temple.

* EvilSorcerer: Abnon-Tha is a highly accomplished necromancer who does whatever benefits him regardless of the cost to others. In order to get access to the corpses in Mordiggian's temple on which he can experiment his spells away from prying and judging eyes, he made a deal with the priests to get them more corpses in return. How many people he killed to keep his end of the bargain is unknown, but it is suggested to be a lot. On top of that, when he falls for the noblewoman Arctela, he is only concerned about her beauty and not her as a person. Because she's unattainable alive, he's fine murdering her and resurrecting her body as his mindless and obedient undead lover. And for little more than to be spiteful, his exact plan includes killing Arctela's fiancé too.
* FauxDeath: Elaith falls into a coma due to a cataleptic attack and is deemed dead. Inconveniently, she and her husband are within the borders of Zul-Bha-Sair when she does. The corpses of the people who die in Zul-Bha-Sair automatically become the property of the god Mordiggian to feast on and so Elaith is taken to the god's temple despite her husband's attempts to clarify her state. She awakens well before she gets eaten
* FreudianTrio: Abnon-Tha is a master necromancer with a long history of dealings with Mordiggian's priests. Despite the whispers going around just how bad of an idea it is to take as much as a single corpse from the deity, Abnon-Tha, the Ego, believes that he can pull it off. His greatest supporter is his student Vemba-Tsith, the Id, who upon seeing Elaith's form wants to take her for himself as Abnon-Tha intends to with Arctela. Unlike his master, he does not have a plan to repay the taking of a corpse by donating another, and overall his impromptu desire endangers the entire operation. After some nagging, though, Abnon-Tha gives him the go-ahead. Another assistant of the necromancer, Narghai, is the Superego. He believes the whole scheme to be a bad idea, but is convinced to go along with it by the others.

* MalevolentMaskedMen: The priests of Mordiggian wear their silver skull masks at all times and the rest of their forms goes hidden in flowing purple robes and fingerless gloves. It is said that this is because no one may gaze on those who've beheld Mordiggian, but that might be a little white public relations lie to keep the fact that they are ghouls a secret. Like their god, the priests live by one simple rule: the living aren't any of their business, but as soon as someone dies in Zul-Bha-Sair, it is theirs and Mordiggian's to devour. They don't harm grieving loved ones that much if they try to stop them, but a painful death awaits any who tries to take a corpse from the god's temple.

* OurGhoulsAreCreepier: Ghouls are among the creatures inhabiting the future world of Zothique. They are humanoid beings comparable to jackals and hyenas; they have a crouching posture, their faces are half anthropomorphic and half canine, their fingers end in curving talons, their spiky teeth are longer than coffin nails, and while they can talk human languages, the growls and laughter of the jackal and the hyena come more natural to them. Ghouls are capable of near-unmatched speed and enjoy immortality. One clan has become the priests of the deity Mordiggian and inhabit his temple in Zul-Bha-Sair, which they only leave upon news of a death in order to bring the corpse to their god. In their profession as priests, they wear silver masks shaped like human skulls, flowing purple robes, and fingerless gloves. It is said that the priests are shrouded so in order that no one gazes on them that have seen Mordiggian, but this may be a lie to conceal the fact that the priests are ghouls and keep the human population compliant. It is rumored and likely that Mordiggian, who consumes corpses, shares his food with his priests. Corpses brought to the temple are generally not eaten immediately, but set aside until they're just a little rotten. A rumor regarding this treatment is that the corpses are put to use in dark rites and other "nameless" practices before Mordiggian claims them. This may or may not be true, but it is true that in return for many more corpses, the priests made a deal with the necromancer Abnon-Tha that he could experiment with their stash as long as he never removed a single corpse from temple grounds.
* TheOutsiderBefriendsTheBest: No one in Zul-Bha-Sair dares enter the temple of Mordiggian and, with the possible exception of Abnon-Tha, no one has ever seen the priests without their masks, gloves, and robes. This is either because the priests have beholden Mordiggian and now are not to be gazed on themselves or because people might be more difficult about Mordiggian's reign if they knew for certain he employs ghouls. Even Abnon-Tha is skeptical Mordiggian even exists. Phariom and Elaith, outsiders to Zul-Bha-Sair, not only get to see the priests unmasked and ungloved, but also get to see Mordiggian after Elaith is mistakenly claimed for dead when she's merely in a coma.

* SurpassedTheTeacher: Abnon-Tha and his student Vemba-Tsith concurrently begin resurrection spells on respectively Arctela and Elaith. However, Elaith isn't actually dead and she awakens from her coma before Arctela's resurrection is complete. This causes the two necromancers to believe that Vemba-Tsith's spell-casting is more potent than Abnon-Tha. Despite Abnon-Tha's usual sickening self-centration, he's proud of his student's accomplishment.

* VoodooZombie: Abnon-Tha desires the noblewoman Arctela for himself, but has zero chance at wooing her because on one hand, he isn't anyone of note himself, and on the other, she's already happily engaged. Because he's not interested in her as a person and only wants her for her beauty, his scheme is to murder her with a spell that doesn't mar her physique and then resurrect Arctela's body for him to claim as his undead lover, mute and submissive "like a fair and soulless automaton." He gets his wish for about ten minutes before his doings are uncovered and Arctela definitely put to rest. Abnon-Tha's student, Vemba-Tsith, similarly wants to claim Elaith for his own pleasure, but it doesn't work out because Elaith isn't dead, merely in coma.
* WakingUpAtTheMorgue: When someone dies in Zul-Bha-Sair, the priests of Mordiggian claim the corpse for the temple. Bodies are left in storage until the early signs of rot before they're consumed by the god. Elaith, who is in a catalepsy-induced coma, is mistaken for dead and brought over to the temple. Phariom, her husband, is not believed when he explains that Elaith isn't dead. This necessitates action on his part, because he fears that if she were to wake up in a strange environment surrounded by corpses, she'd die of shock anyway. As fate would have it, three necromancers enter the temple that night in search of another corpse and they take Elaith with them too. It saves Elaith from waking up among corpses, but she does have a lecherous necromancer leering over her when she opens her eyes.

"The Charnel God" is a ShortStory by Creator/ClarkAshtonSmith that originally appeared in the March 1934 edition of ''Magazine/WeirdTales'' and that was first collected in ''Genius Loci and Other Tales'' in October of 1948. As one of the tales of the ''Zothique'' cycle, it succeeds "The Witchcraft of Ulua" and precedes "The Tomb-Spawn" in terms of publication date. It is the last story Smith completed to feature ghouls, but "The Charnel God" also is the first story in the SwordAndSorcery genre to feature them, preceding ''Literature/TheHourOfTheDragon'' by just over a year. A part of the premise, namely that the third cataleptic seizure of a young bride results in a coma that gets mistaken for death, is recycled from Smith's non-''Zothique'' story "Literature/TheNamelessOffspring".

One of Smith's most lauded works, "The Charnel God" owes some of its fame to the introduction of Mordiggian. Although the ''Zothique'' cycle has nothing to do with the Franchise/CthulhuMythos, Mordiggian was incorporated in the latter as a Great Old One by ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu''. Likewise, in settings inspired by the game [[OurGhoulsAreCreepier ghouls]] often are the deity's followers as per their role as Mordiggian's priests in "The Charnel God".

* MalevolentMaskedMen: The priests of Mordiggian are never seen without their silver skull masks and are further hidden in flowing purple robes and fingerless gloves. It is said that this is because no one may gaze on those who've beheld Mordiggian, but that might be a little white public relations lie to keep the fact that they are ghouls a secret. Like their god, the priests live by one simple rule: the living aren't any of their business, but as soon as someone dies in Zul-Bha-Sair, it is theirs and Mordiggian's to devour. They don't harm grieving loved ones that much if they try to stop them, but a painful death awaits any who tries to take a corpse from the god's temple.

* DevouredByTheHorde: What exactly the priests do to those who so much as try to take off with a corpse that belongs to Mordiggian is pointedly left to the imagination, but certain wording such as that they "fell with a bestial ferocity on Vemba-Tsith" coupled with the fact that the priests are ghouls leads to the conclusion that the penalty is being eaten alive.

%%* EldritchAbomination:
%%* EvilPlan:

%%* GodOfTheDead: The god of Zul-Bha-Sair, Mordiggian, claims all the dead in the city.

%%* {{Necromancer}}: Abnon-Tha is a master necromancer who's gotten so bold in his dealings that even the priests of Mordiggian lend him corpses to experiment on as long as he doesn't take them from the temple in the process. In return, he puts his magic to use killing as many people as wise so that Mordiggian and the priests have no shortage of food. Aside from death spells, Abnon-Tha's magical arsenal also includes a spell to resurrect the body without the spirit. He overplays his hand when he murders the noblewoman Arctela with the intent to resurrect her in Mordiggian's temple and take her away, aiming to repay the corpse with another. Because all corpses belong to Mordiggian, that's not a trade in the god's eyes and so he sics his priests on both Abnon-Tha and his two students.
* OurGhoulsAreCreepier: Ghouls are among the creatures inhabiting the future world of Zothique. They are humanoid beings comparable to jackals and hyenas; they have a crouching posture, their faces are half anthropomorphic and half canine, their fingers end in curving talons, their spiky teeth are longer than coffin nails, and while they can talk human languages, the growls and laughter of the jackal and the hyena come more natural to them. Ghouls are capable of near-unmatched speed and enjoy immortality. One clan has become the priests of the deity Mordiggian and inhabit his temple in Zul-Bha-Sair, which they only leave upon news of a death in order to bring the corpse to their god. In their profession as priests, they wear silver masks shaped like human skulls, flowing purple robes, and fingerless gloves. It is said that the priests are shrouded so in order that no one gazes on them that have seen Mordiggian, but this may be a lie to conceal the fact that the priests are ghouls and keep the human population compliant. It is rumored and likely that Mordiggian, who consumes corpses, shares his food with his priests. Corpses brought to the temple are generally not eaten immediately, but set aside until they're just a little rotten. A rumor regarding this treatment is that the corpses are put to use in blasphemous rites and other "nameless" practices before Mordiggian claims them. This may or may not be true, but it is true that in return for many more corpses, the priests made a deal with the necromancer Abnon-Tha that he could experiment with their stash as long as he never removed a single corpse from temple grounds.

%%* {{Necromancer}}: Abnon-Tha is a master necromancer who's gotten so bold in his dealings that even the priests of Mordiggian lend him corpses to experiment on as long as he doesn't take them from the temple in the process. In return, he puts his magic to use killing as many people as wise so that Mordiggian and the priests have no shortage of food.
* OurGhoulsAreCreepier: Ghouls are among the creatures inhabiting the future world of Zothique. They are humanoid beings comparable to jackals and hyenas; they have a crouching posture, their faces are half anthropomorphic and half canine, their fingers end in curving talons, their spiky teeth are longer than coffin nails, and while they can talk, growling like a jackal and laughing like a hyena comes more natural to them. Ghouls are capable of near-unmatched speed and enjoy immortality. One clan has become the priests of the deity Mordiggian and inhabit his temple in Zul-Bha-Sair, which they only leave upon news of a death in order to bring the corpse to their god. In their profession as priests, they wear silver masks shaped like human skulls, flowing purple robes, and fingerless gloves. It is said that the priests are shrouded so in order that no one gazes on them that have seen Mordiggian, but this may be a lie to conceal the fact that the priests are ghouls and keep the human population compliant. It is rumored and likely that Mordiggian, who consumes corpses, shares his food with his priests. Corpses brought to the temple are generally not eaten immediately, but set aside until they're just a little rotten. A rumor regarding this treatment is that the corpses are put to use in blasphemous rites and other "nameless" practices before Mordiggian claims them. This may or may not be true, but it is true that in return for many more corpses, the priests made a deal with the necromancer Abnon-Tha that he could experiment with their stash as long as he never removed a single corpse from temple grounds.

"The Charnel God" is a ShortStory by Creator/ClarkAshtonSmith that originally appeared in the March 1934 edition of ''Weird Tales'' and that was first collected in ''Genius Loci and Other Tales'' in October of 1948. As one of the tales of the ''Zothique'' cycle, it succeeds "The Witchcraft of Ulua" and precedes "The Tomb-Spawn" in terms of publication date. It is the last story Smith completed to feature ghouls, but "The Charnel God" also is the first story in the SwordAndSorcery genre to feature them, preceding ''Literature/TheHourOfTheDragon'' by just over a year. A part of the premise, namely that the third cataleptic seizure of a young bride results in a coma that gets mistaken for death, is recycled from Smith's non-''Zothique'' story "Literature/TheNamelessOffspring".

One of Smith's most lauded works, "The Charnel God" owes some of its fame to the introduction of Mordiggian. Although the ''Zothique'' cycle has nothing to do with the Franchise/CthulhuMythos, Mordiggian was incorporated in the latter as a Great Old One by ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu''. Relatedly, in settings inspired by the game [[OurGhoulsAreCreepier ghouls]] often are the deity's followers as per their role as Mordiggian's priests in "The Charnel God".

%%* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Mordiggian is deemed just for letting Phariom and Elaith go, because Mordiggian's dealings are with the dead only. This is the same god whose all this time been fine lending out his corpse

%%* EvilSorcerer:

%%* GodOfTheDead: The god of Zul-Bha-Sair, Mordiggian, claims all the dead in the city. Despite his ghoulish reputation, he deals fairly with the people of the city, and personally corrects a MiscarriageOfJustice.

"The Charnel God" is a ShortStory by Creator/ClarkAshtonSmith that originally appeared in the March 1934 edition of ''Weird Tales'' and that was first collected in ''Genius Loci and Other Tales'' in October of 1948. As one of the tales of the ''Zothique'' cycle, it succeeds "The Witchcraft of Ulua" and precedes "The Tomb-Spawn" in terms of publication date. It is the last story Smith completed to feature ghouls, but "The Charnel God" also is the first story in the SwordAndSorcery to feature them, preceding ''Literature/TheHourOfTheDragon'' by just over a year. A part of the premise, namely that the third cataleptic seizure of a young bride results in a coma that gets mistaken for death, is recycled from Smith's non-''Zothique'' story "Literature/TheNamelessOffspring".

"The Charnel God" is a ShortStory by Creator/ClarkAshtonSmith that originally appeared in the March 1934 edition of ''Weird Tales'' and that was collected in ''Genius Loci and Other Tales'' in October of 1948. It is one of the tales of the ''Zothique'' cycle, succeeding "The Witchcraft of Ulua" and preceding "The Tomb-Spawn". A part of the premise, namely that the third cataleptic seizure of a young bride results in a coma that gets mistaken for death, is recycled from Smith's non-''Zothique'' story "Literature/TheNamelessOffspring". ''Literature/TheHourOfTheDragon''

%%* DamselInDistress:

%%* GodOfTheDead: Mordiggian

%%* {{Necromancer}}:
* OurGhoulsAreCreepier: Ghouls are among the creatures inhabiting the future world of Zothique. They are humanoid beings comparable to jackals and hyenas; they have a crouching posture, their faces are half anthropomorphic and half canine, their fingers end in curving talons, and their spiky teeth are longer than coffin nails. Ghouls are capable of near-unmatched speed and enjoy immortality. One clan has become the priests of the deity Mordiggian and inhabit his temple in Zul-Bha-Sair, which they only leave upon news of a death in order to bring the corpse to their god. In their profession as priests, they wear silver masks shaped like human skulls, flowing purple robes, and fingerless gloves. It is said that the priests are shrouded so in order that no one gazes on them that have seen Mordiggian, but this may be a lie to conceal the fact that the priests are ghouls and keep the human population compliant. It is rumored and likely that Mordiggian, who consumes corpses, shares his food with his priests. Corpses brought to the temple are generally not eaten immediately, but set aside until they're just a little rotten. A rumor regarding this treatment is that the corpses are put to use in blasphemous rites and other "nameless" practices before Mordiggian claims them. This may or may not be true, but it is true that in return for many more corpses, the priests made a deal with the necromancer Abnon-Tha that he could experiment with their stash as long as he never removed a single corpse from temple grounds.

%%* BuriedAlive: Elaith suffers cataleptic seizures

%%* OurGhoulsAreCreepier: No living men, other than the priests, have ever beheld him; and the faces of the priests are hidden behind masks of silver, and even their hands are shrouded, that men may not gaze on them that have seen Mordiggian." skull mask purple robe in their unnatural, crouching attitudes, and the beastlike agility with which they moved, unhampered by their cumbrous habiliments. fingerless gloves Mordiggian, the invisible eater of the dead, who was believed to share his provender with the shrouded priests. It was said that the bodies lay for days in the dark temple and were not devoured till corruption had begun. And people whispered of fouler things than necrophagism, of blasphemous rites that were solemnized in the ghoul-ridden vaults, and nameless uses to which the dead were put before Mordiggian claimed them His hierophants were equally mysterious; they lived at the temple and emerged from it only in the execution of their funeral duties. No one knew the manner of their recruiting, but many believed that they were both male and female, thus renewing their numbers from generation to generation with no ulterior commerce. Others thought that they were not human beings at all, but an order of subterranean earth-entities, who lived for ever, and who fed upon corpses like the god himself. running more swiftly than jackals differ from hyenas only through their monstrous shape and size, and their immortality. heads and faces that were half anthropomorphic, half canine, and wholly diabolic. Also, they had taken off the fingerless gloves... There were at least a dozen of them. Their curving talons gleamed in the bloody light like the hooks of darkly tarnished metal; their spiky teeth, longer than coffin nails, protruded from snarling lips.

"The Charnel God" is a ShortStory by Creator/ClarkAshtonSmith that originally appeared in the March 1934 edition of ''Weird Tales'' and that was collected in ''Genius Loci and Other Tales'' in October of 1948. It is one of the tales of the ''Zothique'' cycle, succeeding "The Witchcraft of Ulua" and preceding "The Tomb-Spawn". A part of the premise, namely that the third cataleptic seizure of a young bride results in a coma that gets mistaken for death, is recycled from Smith's non-''Zothique'' story "Literature/TheNamelessOffspring".

%%* OurGhoulsAreCreepier:

%%* VoodooZombie: