"Itis a terrible thinGto Fall itnwo the hanDs of The Living God.
IT is a terRibLe thinG to fall iNto the HANDS of the living God.
itis a terribLe hTing to fall into the hands of the living doG.
It iS A tERRible thing tof all INTO the h and s OF the live ing GOd.
itisa terr IB leth ING tofal linTO tHE hands oft HE liv ingGo d.
…"
- Excerpt from a typewritten note found in the Praxus apartment of a prominent architect after his disappearance. Several dozens of pages with similar notes were found at the same location.
The Last City, the End of All Things, the Lost
Little is known about this strange entity. It lives on a plane of the same name, a realm full of slowly decaying buildings and mostly devoid of people. Or possibly it is the plane as a whole. What is known is that Shaprat seems to feed on cities existing in the real world. Its worshipers hold strange rituals and ceremonies in various locales of a city, and their purpose seems to be to allow Shaprat access to this world. It then draws material - people, buildings, entire city blocks - into itself, making the plane of Shaprat ever larger. Few people who visit Shaprat ever return, and the adults simply seem to vanish into its urban wastes after a time. Those who don't vanish invariably become insane and begin to utter strange words with a prophetic quality to them. Children seem to be able to resist this, and even survive for many years there, but once they are turning into adults, they too seem to slowly fade away…
So far, all the recorded appearances of Shaprat on the Material Plane have been in cities with nexus towers, leading some to speculate that the rituals of its worshipers are designed to draw power from them (the really paranoid wonder just where the Atalan mages got the idea for the nexus towers from…). Yet some of those who have visited Shaprat and come back report buildings built in styles that predate the Atalan Empire…
Its cults scuttle in the corners of the cities. Few of Shaprat's clerics seem to be fully aware of they are doing, and many clerics are completely insane, and delight in sowing chaos and confusion.
The cultists of Shaprat generally believe the following:
- Shaprat is the way, the door, and the key.
- The cities of the world need to be altered to be worthy of Shaprat's blessings.
- Lead others to the glories of Shaprat.
Priests of Shaprat do not use a unified form of symbols, though pieces of stone from torn-down buildings are popular. Especially valued - though rare - are pieces of stone from within Shaprat itself.
See Also
** Zeestad
Adventure Ideas
Designer's Notes & Resources
Shaprat is probably the closest to a Great Old One among the deities of Urbis - an alien entity manifesting in our world that cannot truly be understood, yet brings harm to all those in contact with it. Secondary influences were both Carcosa and Ravenloft.
I'm just curious about this name that is used for a city that devours cities? Even to insane cultists it seems a bit too odd. I would probably suggest Waking God, or other titles/names unless you are set on the name.
I like this, its a very interesting design, I wonder though have you ever taken a look at the Manual of the Planes entry for Neth the Plane that Lives? It could provide some other ideas on how the city could operate as far as those who find it. Instead of just a static place where things happen.
I have to admit I am rather fond of the name "Shaprat", but I am not averse to coming up with alternate names or titles for it. The way I see it, this entity is really beyond names - "Shaprat" is what some of its cultists call it, not what it calls itself (and it is doubtful if it actually calls itself anything specific).
I vaguely recall Neth. Though my primary inspiration for Shaprat were Carcosa as described by John Tynes' "Hastur Mythos" in Delta Green: Countdown as well as the movie "Dark City". I do plan to expand on Shaprat eventually, and in fact have provided more hints with the recent entry on the Brass Key. Though there are plenty of other aspects of Urbis I wish to expand upon… But I am glad you like it!
The Spambot Death Wall
Arcana Wiki - Distilling the Real World for Gaming
Urbis - A World of Cities - an urban fantasy setting of industrial magic
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