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So I was doing a few elite clues that took me to Mos'le and I accidentally found a lore book that made me realize I was probably missing out on something - and I was, so after hunting for all the books I had this 4headxplosion. To the point:

In the Blasphemous journal (Last book you get - A guy spies on the horrors, formerly the Mwanu, trying to study them) 3 horrors "heed the call" and drown themselves in the sea - Then, 3 nights later one of them comes back heavily warped. She lost her legs and got tentacles instead, she is also taller and seemingly much more intelligent than before. She starts to preach and the horrors listen. - Lets call this one Tentacles.

When the horrors get too hyped about her new priest and things get out of control the sea brings back the second individual - No face, but a gigantic MAW. No hands, useless tendrils instead, but from her back black hands are spawning and beckoning. Her sole presence inspires a fear big enough to stop the fights. - Codename The Maw.

Now the problem is that not everyone gets to hear the teachings of these beings - So the sea brings back the third individual. Something crassian legged (Like a spider crab) - but instead of a torso just a big scary eye that can see it all - The Eye

Mr. Researcher loses it and offs himself in the sea, awaiting for his own transformation. Awesome story. Now, how is this relevant?

Well, let me tell you about the Mwana gods, so we can start getting the whole picture together - But the three abominations from up there might be small avatars of something bigger. Check it out:

Uvhastur seems to be the god of fertility, and it's described as a deity with "vague hints of a woman's body but without arms and whose legs are instead a mass of tentacles" - Tentacles

Then we have Yogsathla who seems to act as a lunar deity, depicted it as a single eye "that reminds the viewer of the corpses of decaying fish" - The Eye

Last but not least we have Nyarlahydra - A deity related to death. Bones arranged in a special manner. "I can only assume these are the bones of one of the larger of their number, skinned and bound together with thick string and sinew. Upon its skull sat a terrible black mask, hewn again from the same black stone." - Bones (A fitting avatar of this one might be no other than the Skeletal Horror)

All of these are gods belong to the mwanu pantheon, and their patron is Tezcasathla, who according to the mwanu, created them using blood and STONE. Interestingly enough Tez it's depicted as black hands spawning from a pool (lake) - Obviously a Xau-Tak representation based on the "sighting of their god" before they were brought to this plane.

Now, odds are:

1.- Tezcasathla did abandon the Mwanu because they lost to the other monkeys & the Horn bearing god and Xau took advtange of this to pose as Tez and get free followers (so the hands representation was never Tez's).

2.- Tezcasathla is in fact another persona of Xau-Tak OR

3.- Xau killed Tez and took his place, unbeknown to the Mwanu.

You surely noticed that there is no "Maw" god described in the Mwanu lore, and instead we have a Death (Undead?) god - apparently the small avatar of this god is no other than the skeletal Horror.

Ok. So what about the Maw? Well, it's for sure a recurrent element in Xau's shenanigans. But here is the big question: Guess who features a big ass MAW right in the middle of his body?

Right, Kranon... but unlike the others he is not a god, and yet The Ambassador figure might be close to one - and he pledged fealty to Xau, so he could be the "newest" addition to his pantheon. Think of it standing in the same level Sliske was standing at. Much stronger than Mahjarrat Joe, but not exactly a God either.

Now consider the following:

  • The horrors arrive to Gielinor at some point during the Second Age. Odds are the ritual that took place at Ulthven Kreath happened before that. I did not find confirmation on this, however the notes of both Kranon and Quetzahoag in Umbral Diplomacy make it appear like the Ambassador was a thing when the Mwanus arrived to Gielinor. (I shall gather the lost and the abandoned. Those whose homes have been taken from them, but who are already blessed in His eyes. ----The Ambassador has promised us vengeance and a chance for our people to rise again and reclaim the world that was taken from us.)

  • After the events of MPD, it is logical to assume that gods in fact fear (or are extremely respectful of) the Dragonkin power. On top of that Xau gifts him something else... If an enraged Dragonkin poses a threat even to gods, it's hard to imagine a warped one not being almost on par with them.

  • If the mwanus recognized him as the Harbinger of their own God it's only natural that they'd start respecting the Maw as a sign of divinity, of some sort.

So what I'm trying to get at is that maybe after The Maw (Kranon) failed to summon him, Tentacles (Uvhastur), The Eye (Yogsathla) and Dem Bones (Nyarlahydra) might attempt to warp Xau into this plane.

Another reason I have to believe this is that Xau-Tak himself does not know about our existence (As stated by Kranon himself "You only live because he has not noticed you") and all those messages and warnings and kittens and taunts have been given out by their "Apostles" who probably were transported here with the horrors, seeing how their prayers seem to have effect/their powers influence upon Gielinor (Horros call upon Tentacles to get fishies, Skeletal Horror is more likely to be powered by Bones, not by Xau himself, etc.

This being said remember: just a theory, but it does seem to fit.

Also, related but not on topic, another hint about Xau origins being before the "current" universe is thrown with the story about the Black Pebble that Kranon talks about in his journal. This story is told to him when he is a child - way before Jas curses them, therefore way before the elder's revision, and yet it seems to be somewhat of an old, obscure forgotten mythos.

Someone posted like a year ago another theory in which it was pointed out that Xau could be an elder god or something else that had survived multiple revisions and it's looking a way to destroy this cycle or the elder gods, so there's that.

External link →
almost 6 years ago - /u/darkhearted_raven - Direct link

An interesting read.

There are some good assumptions here and some wrong assumptions as well.

I'd say more but that would give too much away. But I'm pleased to see you spotted some things. ;)

almost 6 years ago - /u/darkhearted_raven - Direct link

Originally posted by BradlePhotos

How many pints can I supply you to hear some cool Runescape things? (not necessarily upcoming, but just so much lore)

I don't drink. :P