"Kingdom Hearts" isn't quite right though - a more accurate analogy would be Disney's Once Upon A Time or CLAMP's xxxHOLiC. The difference being that in Kingdom Hearts, the tonal dissonance between different franchises is played up as part of the fun, whereas in Carcosa there is some effort made to unify all the elements under a single aesthetic.
So let's imagine - if McKinney had not been limited by copyright restrictions (and also, perhaps, his own taste for the classic and obscure) what else on the Lovecraft wavelength could have made it into the world of Carcosa?
D&D demon lords
The demon lords from early D&D seem like they could coexist quite easily with the Mythos deities. Demogorgon and Juiblex are particularly good candidates. On the other hand, more "human-seeming" characters like Iggwilv or even Orcus don't feel right to me. I think it's because they have too much agency. The cosmic entities imprisoned on Carcosa need to be either unconscious, unintelligent or uncaring about the fate of humanity. As soon as you add some schemers to the mix, they make the whole setting about themselves and wipe away that sense of potential I talked about in my last post.
Michael Moorcock stuff
It would be tempting to add Michael Moorcock's demon prince Arioch to the mix - after all, he was originally invented by R. E. Howard - but again there's the "schemer" problem. What I would love to use from Moorcock is the cursed sword Stormbringer. Just stick it in a rock somewhere on your map and see what happens!
STALKER/Roadside Picnic
The Zone (as it's depicted in the film) could be dropped into Carcosa. An area of spatial distortion that perhaps even the Snake Men didn't fully understand, left behind as trash by some paracosmic beings. Moving through it without proper precautions tends to get you cut in half by folds in the fabric of space.
Evangelion
My headcanon for Carcosa is that before humans were enslaved and bred into wacky colours by the Snake Men, they were the masters of a Dune-style space empire. Maybe they also built giant robots out of bits of dead Great Old Ones? And maybe some of these robots crashed on the surface of Carcosa? And maybe if primitive humans dig them up they could get them working again?
No Touch Kung Fu
The presence of psychic powers already gives Carcosa a thematic link to occultism and conspiracy lore. Follow the thread far enough and you can reach the world of wuxia movies and sham kung fu techniques. Humanity, who has forgotten their origins, can retrieve spiritual practices from the Akashic Records (with the help of psychedelic lotus seeds, of course). Techniques like water walking, sleeper holds and suspended animation are within reach of those willing to undergo punishing and bizarre training regimens.
The Book of Sand
I've always been interested in the relationship between Jorge Luis Borges and the pulp writers such as Lovecraft and Howard. They possibly weren't even aware of each other, and in some ways Borges is worlds apart - but some sense of a relationship remains, perhaps because of a shared influence from Poe. Anyway, here's a magic item from Borges:
He suggested I try finding the first page. I placed my left hand on the cover and opened the book with my thumb and forefinger almost touching. All my efforts were useless: several pages always lay between the cover and my hand. It was as though the pages sprouted from within the book.“Now search for the last page.” Again I failed; I only managed to stammer in a voice not my own: “This cannot be.”The Book of Sand contains words in an unknown language and mysterious illustrations, resembling the Voynich Manuscript. Its pages are infinite, and turning to the first or last page is impossible. Those who own the book eventually go mad, reaching a state where they cannot think about anything other than the book.
Tlön
Also from Borges. If you have the time I highly recommend just reading the story, but here's the cliff's notes. Tlön is a fictional world, created by a conspiracy of philosophers to be enchantingly realistic, detailed with "the minute and vast evidence of an orderly plant". As humanity becomes obsessed with Tlön, it overtakes our own reality (metaphorically in Borges, more literally in Grant Morrison's take on the subject.)
How does this fit into Carcosa? Well, in such a violent and degraded world, the creation of a work of refined imagination is all the more challenging. Disciplines such as linguistics, sociology and geometry are just as arcane as the rituals of the sorcerors. The writers of the Encyclopedia of
Tlön rule over a city-state whose every activity is bent towards achieving the creation (or re-creation) of their masterpiece. Much like a cult, they inspire devotion in their followers who believe they will be able to escape Carcosa and enter the more refined imaginary world of Tlön.
Carcosa and the Eternal Champion are a match made in heaven.
ReplyDeleteYour post inspired me to start writing up the city of Carcosa and liken it to Imrryr, the Dreaming City who fell into ruin.
Perhaps its last ruler and destroyer has gone mad with knowledge of rituals and now walks the lands? By his side a cursed blade willing to support those who feed it with blood and soul.