Calla Cthulhu: World Building/Researching/Designing

I've been on another deep Weird Fiction kick lately, picking up and tearing through Weird Tales collections, rivals of Weird Tales collections, Victorian ghost story anthologies and the like. Which is why you're getting a background and process post on Calla Cthulhu today, out of the blue.

promotional image art by co-creator Erin Humiston

In case you weren't aware, CALLA CTHULHU was a character that Sarah came up when we were pitching ideas to Stela for a digital comic series. Long story short, we teamed up with animator/cartoonist Erin Humiston and created the first story arc for Stela under their original contract, which meant that we were not only paid well, but retained our publishing rights. So, eventually Dark Horse Comics published the print version of the book. The bummer is that it didn't do well enough for us to properly finance continuing the series, and Erin went back into animation with (the now shuttered) Blue Sky studio. So, while Sarah and I had planned Calla to run for a number of story arcs, we only got the first installment out there in the wild. Which is a shame, because I really loved working on the comics. Basically, we were doing kitchen sink, deep dive referenced horror-adventure stuff, done in such a way that readers didn't have to be entrenched Cthulhu Mythos or Weird Fiction fans to follow the story. Everything was based on something from the Mythos or related fiction, or inspired by it, to some degree. But if the reader didn't know Algernon Blackwood's John Silence stories, or William Hope Hodgson's Carnacki stories, then Silence and Carnacki are just character names. You didn't have to know the references, you would get that there were good guys versus bad guys and monsters, creatures, ghouls, eldritch books and artifacts, fighting, conspiracies, etc. Sarah didn't know most of this stuff (not a Mythos fan), we designed the story and set-ups based on my geek knowledge and her researching and working out some real-world implications of the Mythos (for example, in working out Calla's background, entwined with the history of the Deep Ones). 

But anyway.

I realized I haven't posted about Calla in ages and I found some of the working notes, which don't go into spoilers regarding where the series was going. it's character and set up work, mostly. But it shows where ideas were coming from, and where some things might be going. It's a lot of thinking out loud. It's not the pitch, it's a document of organized notes and thoughts. And I'm throwing in some of the sketches I did to help out, because Erin was completely unfamiliar with the Mythos material. 

CALLA CTHULHU

General Notes – see Encyclopedia Cthulhuiana, Mallus Monstorum

THE STRUGGLE -

Why are the gods and entities and embodiments acting more like Derleth's Mythos rather than Lovecraft's? Besides that it's more action-oriented? What is the cosmic situation causing entities to take sides and notice of one another?

Possibilities:

- A greater chaos or pantheon or entity is arriving from outside their spheres of influence. A disruption yet to come, a cleansing of the Mythos entities to make way for another race or pantheon or Mythos. War of Mythos entities.

- The blind idiot god Azathoth is believed or feared to becoming sane, awakening (or cured) and will re-create, re-assess or wipe out its creation of the cosmos.

- Azathoth is feared to destroy the responsible Mythos creatures in revenge for enfeebling it, removing it's mind.

- Various entities are maneuvering to take advantage of Azathoth's revitalization or some event caused by it that will give them more power or control or certainty.

- Azathoth realizes what's become of his creation. “I'm sorry.” Commits suicide.

THE WEAPON

It needs a name. Scylla. Hydra's teeth. Protean. Eight Diagram Staff. Eight Fanged Snake. Something something something. Manifest

Engineered like The House, using Shoggoth tissue, Black Stone of M'nar, bones/marrow of Mythos creatures, and other materials.

Multiple functions, triggered by specific glyph phrases. 8-9 functions?

CUDGEL, STAFF, SPEAR, SWORD, SHORTSWORD, DAGGER, AXE, SPIKED MACE...

The ELDRITCH WEAPON was made with an infusion of Shoggoth tissue and other strange materials. That's why it can transform and reacts to the language Glugg speaks – and Calla can understand).

ELDER SIGN TATTOOS

Elder's Palm on various beings, substances. Break doors, smash dirt men, etc. Plows through them.

Back tattoo a warding sigil that requires the blood of (x) for the ink. Deep Ones? Cthulhu Spawn? Something she's unrelated to? Something something something.

Effective on Shoggoths? Or devise something.

THE HOUSE

A mystery even to those who lived in it, it has, over time, become something even different from what its engineers has planned. Possibly corrupted, possibly wayward, and still changing. Origin is obscure. May have been moved wholesale from another location, and may have been present at multiple locations over time. Exact time it was built is unknown. May not have been built to look as it now looks, a rambling Victorian gothic hybrid that makes the Winchester House seem sane and sensible. It is rumored that portions of other infamous houses have been added to (or possibly subsumed by) The House – including portions of the home of Captain Richard Holt (aka “The Terrible Old Man”), the so-called “Strange High House In The Mist” and the so-called “House on the Borderland”, among other infamous domiciles and structures.

Handed down from generation to generation, stores secrets, some of which are dangerous by design or existence. Many Mythos elements can be found in The House: various BOOKS, TOMES and PAPERS pertaining to the cults, creatures and practices related to the Mythos, various correspondence between alchemists, occultists and researchers, a number of vials containing the so-called ESSENTIAL SALTES of  various dead persons (many well-known to historians, antiquarians and occultists) a TILLINGHAST RESONATOR (which can make visible/summon dangerous creatures from another dimension/plane of existence), Mr. Baxter's VELVET SKULL-MASK and blood-filled FIELD GLASSES, various artworks and writings by RICHARD UPTON PICKMAN as well as his successors and imitators (also other creations by other deviant/mystic artists and writers, as well as cursed items such as the infamous Arthur Franics MEZZOTINT), and a number of related signs, seals, insignias, and items of import.

The House might be sentient, or alive in some semblance of sentience, or working under the will or design of its builders and/or former inhabitants. What is definitely known is that the House changes. Rooms, chambers disappear or are sealed or revealed. New underground passages are burrowed, some leading to places far from the hill or even the town where The House is located. Hallways change, staircases lengthen, doors remin shut or burst open seemingly at whim. There are areas that cannot be entered without the proper key, incantation or offering. If it was built with a particular purpose other than to simply house hidden works and contain secrets, that purpose is yet to be revealed.

Most of the local townsfolk will not go near The House. It is almost impossible to hire repairmen or even have a pizza delivered there.

Maybe one or two Pallidins tried to stay behind to waylay Calla and the House took them and is holding them. Or did something ucky with them. The girls can question them (or their remaining essence) about the Hastur cult.

House ordered to let Calla's friends in, keep strangers out.

House acts nutty, Carnacki thinks it's “senile”.

CALLA

Will eventually be able to affect others through her dreams? Or send telepathic messages through her dreams to sensitives. Her “call”. To her supporters.

Calla must willingly agree to work with Hastur, accept him as her guardian or whatever.

Parents – MICHAEL and ROSE TAFALLI. Presumed dead under mysterious circumstances, bodies apparently stolen by creature in employ of unknown entity.

Above: Chibi Calla I drew for our kid

GLUG

A miniature “variant” SHOGGOTH changed by alchemy and super-science into something both lesser and greater than it's kind. Intelligent, adaptive, sentient but unlike most Shoggoth is not malicious. It's protoplasmic being was fused alchemically from proto-Shoggoth compounds fused with other elements and genetic material which changed its color, size, behavior and caused it to develop a unique, non-threatening personality. Considered a useless failure, it was stored in a narcotizing substance in a glass jar to be reused in another experiment. Left on the shelf for years, possibly decades, Glug was either forgotten, abandoned or simply never used by previous owners of The House. It is possible that the records of its creation can be found in the house.

Glug generally stays in a fixed cube-like protoplasmic form that he can change at will to perform various functions. Glug shares some of the abilities of his larger, more dangerous brethren: it possesses a surprising amount of strength for its size, can manifest multiple appendages and sensory organs (so far really only in the form of tentacles and eyes) as needed, manipulate his form, and move by means other than normal locomotion (being able to slither, for instance). Extreme cold slows Glug down, and doubtless there are conditions unique to affecting it due to its hybrid status. It can survive in water, for how long is unknown. It is highly resilient, possibly immortal if not damaged by violence or mishap.

Because of the experiments that formed it, the creature can also adhere to many surfaces. It can also usually detect the presence of other Shoggoths, including variants and mutations. It cannot will itself to grow or mimic specific creatures. Glug can generate an inner bio-luminescence, although he himself rarely needs light to see in the dark.

Although it cannot duplicate human speech, Glug is learning other languages “by ear”. And Calla and the creature can communicate – crudely, at first – in the weird language she “downloaded” upon first holding the (eldritch weapon).

Glug was named by Calla after the GLUG-GLUGGING sound it makes when it becomes anxious or frightened. It also makes this sound when it drinks soda (especially  ginger-ale), which is enjoys for the carbonation rather than the need to relieve thirst. Carbonated drinks cause Glug to shiver and make funny sounds from within its protoplasm.

Other Glug-like beings may be in storage within The House. They may not be as good-natured as Glug.

Above: My sketches of Glug. I don't think I sent these to Erin, but I can't recall for sure. I usually sketch character out when working on scripts or pitches, even if they're just generic place markers for me to think about. Or I doodle while stuck on something for the story.

MS. CARNACKI

Descendant of Carnacki, the Ghost Finder. Mythos investigator, researcher and assassin. Following Calla, she decides not to kill her but watch and wait after seeing Calla save a young boy from a monster. She cleans up the scene of the fight to keep things quiet in the town. Eventually saves Calla from Ms. Silence and brings them together in an uneasy alliance. Carries a three-sectioned staff made from the bones of three different occult adepts (or creatures, or a mix). Also uses blades, throwing stars (some iron or silver-tipped), salt, iron, etc, Trained in the use of occult weaponry, various forms of martial combat. Strength, resilience and abilities enhanced by usage of occult practices and items. Not as strong as Calla.

MS. PENELOPE SILENCE

Descendant of John Silence, psychic “doctor”. Mythos investigator, researcher and assassin. Is at first convinced Calla needs to be destroyed. Carries guns, although understands guns are often useless and more trouble than their worth when dealing with the occult and Mythos. Also carries throwing knives and darts (some iron or silver-tipped), a whip, salt, iron, etc. Trained in the use of occult weaponry, various forms of martial combat. Strength, resilience and abilities enhanced by usage of occult practices and items. Not as strong as Calla.

THE LOCAL GHOULS

JOHN

TRACY

NEIGHBORS

KELVIN and KHALIL MICHAELS

THE TOWN (NEED A NAME)

TATTOO PARLOR(NEED A NAME)

CTHULHU CULT

World-wide, growing, recipient of dreams. Sects occasionally at odds with one another, always at odds with other cults, especially those of Hastur and the Yellow Sign. Rifts developing over how to regard Calla.

STAR-SPAWN OF CTHULHU

Smaller versions of Cthulhu, they share the same general shape and “outline”, but their facial configurations and markings vary. Most are trapped in R'lyeh, but some roam free, abetting cult activity or marking out their own territory to await their  master's return.

THE STARS ARE RIGHT

The time when Cthulhu will return for good, ending the reign of humanity. Hastur has plans of his own for this time, to merge Carcosa with the Earth and add Cthulhu's power to his own. The great cosmic order.

DAGON, MOTHER HYDRA and THE DEEP ONES

Esoteric Order of Dagon. Daughters of Hydra. Cthulhu worshipers, immortal, torn over how to regard Calla. Three oaths made between humans and Deep Ones to transform former to latter.

GHOULS

Carrion feeders and scavengers. Live underground and can travel to Dreamlands and ride Night Gaunts. Many are undead cultists, turned by their experiences. Some are barely more than scavenging cretins, but many are intelligent and can even use magic. Many are canine-in appearance. There is a tribal society and a more “civilized” society. There are also the outcasts, human-ghoul half breeds unlike either kind, shunned by both. There are ghouls who support Calla as a force of change and redemption, potentially freeing them and ghoul society from their cursed existence. Mostly outcasts. Ghoul changelings. Fast attackers, using claws, teeth, the more humanistic ghouls will use weaponry. Can work as allies with humans when necessary or advantageous. Many in the service of Hastur's cult and others. Offered an eternity of corpses if they help sway the stars the right way. Possess sought-after books and items taken from corpses and victims, jealously guarded.

HASTUR/CULT OF THE YELLOW SIGN

You losers can't even say his stupid name. Hastur! Hastur! Has –

I am a place. I am an embodiment. I am a being.

Embodiment of entropy, fearing entropy -?

ABHOTH

Lesser great one.

CULT OF ABHOTH (BROTHERHOOD OF FILTH, THE DEGRADED ONES, etc)

Smallish, miserable, degraded cult, disdained even by other Mythos beings and cults, possibly incorporating GHOULS and SWINE-THINGS.

ITEMS/ARTIFACTS OF NOTE

TILLINGHAST RESONATOR – can cause people to be able to see other-dimensional beings, also, cause those beings to become aware of people. “Floaters” just out of eyesight or perception, swimming, sea creature-like entities. Pineal gland distortion, attuning, affecting brain and sensory functions. Can also allows “Floaters” to gain physical entry to this dimension, as if making them “whole” on this plane. Bursts through heads, brain matter and eyes, devouring same. Do not make direct eye contact with these creatures.

MONSTER MANUAL (possibly)

SHOGGOTHS

ELDER THINGS (Old Ones, Elder Ones)

MI-GO (Fungus)- interstellar “mad scientists” and strip-miners. They make stuff.

NIGHTGAUNTS

THE SWINE-THINGS from House on the Borderland

THE BEETLE (ha ha)

THE THING IN THE WOODS

THE HOUNDS

AZATHOTH (ultimate big bad?)

NYARLATHOTEP (ultimate big bad?)

ITHAQUA (Windigo, Wendigo, Wind-Walker)

TSATHOGGUA (public domain?)

CHAUGNAR FAUGN (public domain?)

BURROWERS

ANOINTED (DIRT ZOMBIES)

MARL-KRAKEN

Above: Calla versus a marl kraken, which is basically just an Earth or ground kraken. This one made it's way to the sewers and was trying to eat kids. Art by Erin Humiston.

Above: My rough sketches of a Burrower, which isn't a specific Mythos creature but based on the underground killer worm trope scuttling through Mythos and horror fiction and gaming. The graveyard attack was folded into Calla meeting the ghouls and gaining "safe" passage to her home.

POSSIBLE “ANCESTRAL” CHARACTERS

Mr. Karswell from Casting The Runes, M.R. James villain

Jules de Grandin – Seabury Quinn character

Dr. Martin Hesselius (occult detective)– Le Fanu character

Robt Chambers novel Slayer of Souls

John Thunstone – Wellman? Pub domain?

Judge Pursuvant – Thunstone's mentor (Wellman, again..?)

Descendent of Doctor Dexter (who maybe didn't toss the Shining Trapezohedron?)

Occult detectives/characters  – public domain

Dr Hesselius – Le Fanu

Lady Arabella March – Stoker, Lair of the White Worm

Flaxman Low – occult detective. Author and mother authors, base characters, team?

Helen Vaughn – The Great God Pan/Machen. Her descendent(s).

PLACES/THINGS TO MAYBE INVESTIGATE

Red Hook

Innsmouth

Aylesbury

Arctic/Caverns below Mountains of Madness. Man frozen w/important book they need.

Dunwich

Arkham

Providence

Above: This was the only sequence of the comic that I provided layouts for. It was hard to convey everything we needed to someone who wasn't familiar with the Mythos, so for this instance -- a vision Calla has that points towards her origins and dark destiny -- I added these layouts to the script for Erin to use. 

On the one hand, it might seem counter-intuitive to work with someone uninvolved with the source material, but we liked the idea of having Erin coming to this with a blank slate, relying on his design and problem solving/story telling abilities to create the cast and settings. It gave the series a different look from the majority of Mythos-based art, which backed up the weird action/weird adventure approach of the series. We sent reference when necessary, but let Erin have his head when designing most of the characters. Sarah had a description of Calla's look and worked with Erin, but other than the Burrower and a few details here and there, all the visual elements came from Erin. We knew purists would have a problem with this, as well as the "good vs evil" aspect of the story, which isn't Lovecraftian by any means, but we weren't making this for purists (or at least uptight purists). It was for us and anyone else who might like it. That's pretty much what you make stuff for. You can't guess what people will like, you'll always be wrong to some degree. So you make it and do your best and try to have a good time working on it, and see what happens. I hope Calla can somehow be brought back, while it's Cthulhu-based, "That is not dead which can eternal lie" doesn't apply to comics/publishing, for the most part. 

FYI: I do think DHC will soon have the rights to offer Calla Cthulhu digitally, because that was the one thing Stela had retained for a number of years (along with video game rights). If that happens I will let folks know.

Sarah and Erin worked out that Calla's hair would become more tentacular and weird after her heritage becomes known. Visually, it allowed for a Cthulhu-ian aspect to her design without giving her actual tentacles or gills or anything outward. Her hair going wild in times of stress or action also adds a nice visual for Erin to play around with to show motion, gravity, force, etc. And it all snaps back into place with barely any work once the danger is over.