The Cosmic Horrors, sometimes called Elder Horrors, are known as the Great Old Ones to the people of Celesia.
Their goals are unfathomable. They care nothing for beings of this reality. To mortals they simply exist, and that very existence warps everything and everyone around them. They are so unnatural, so alien to existence as we know it, that mortal minds easily twist and break in their presence. On some fundamental subconscious, we know that they are wrong.
In the outer Void, they are more powerful than the most powerful god in the universe, but thanks to the Veil, they cannot manifest their full power in our reality, yet they exist in many dimensions at once. Destroying an Elder Horror on one plane does not guarantee its complete destruction. Their goals are unfathomable; they seem to wander the omniverse aimlessly, consuming all that they come across, driving intelligent creatures mad by their completely alien nature.
The Thuul-koon are a race created in our universe seemingly accidentally when the Cosmic Horrors first manifested in our reality. They are intelligent and psionic, able to communicate clearly with us, yet they seem to perceive reality differently. They travel the cosmos and feel most at ease in the darkness, usually within the earth. It is from their machinations that other mythos races such as the Yoch-chul and Shumgola were created.
There are seven Elder Horrors known to have presence on Celesia:
- Askulioth, the Whisper Between Breaths.
- F'golthiagga, the Radiant Darkness.
- Par'manorok, the Defiler From Within.
- Shorok'logoa, the Truth That Lies.
- Xin'carlath, the Mother Of All Horrors.
- Yin-Zaggoth, the Bliss of Worms.
- Zol-goa'thul, the Dreamer In The Depths.
Cults exist that worship the Elder Horrors. The Horrors ignore them, but the cultists' worship manages to draw off some of their energy for the cultists to wield for themselves. The stronger the worship, the more power they gain. At the same time, their worship allows more of the Horrors to enter into our reality. On Celesia, tgsdhese cults are known as Old Cults.
Beyond the individual cults exists a secret order of scholars obsessed with the Elder Horrors as a whole. They are known as the Void Singers. They are highly organized and well-funded.
Monsters with the Mythos Subtype
- Thul-koon (neothelid)
- Yoch-chul (neh-thalggu)
- Shumgola (seugathi)
- Shoggoth
- Morlock
- Intellect devourer
- Faceless stalker
- Hound of Tindalos
- Denizen of Leng
- Iku-turso
- Gibbering mouther
- Mi-go
- Nightgaunt
- Dark young of Shub-Niggurath
Other Elder Horrors
- Zarathulos: Only known through mentions in ancient incantations to the Old Ones, Zarathulos is thought to be the progenitor of all the cosmic horrors. 'Zarathulos' is likely not its true name, the truth capable of driving mortals mad even just thinking of it. Clues glimpsed from cryptic texts and the nightmares of the insane infer that he sleeps at the center of the Outer Void, and that all of reality as we know it, ourselves, and even our gods, are nothing dreams of his, and when he wakes, our existence simply ends. Even if this blasphemous idea is not true, Zarathulos is said to be such an entity that even the ripple caused by its very thoughts could shape reality, and that its waking could wipe out reality regardless. It is fortunate and frightening that Zarathulos is ignorant of all things, and its mind too vast and alien to comprehend.
- Zarathulos does have a cult among mortals, but it is small and replete with madmen, for only the insane would worship an entity found only in brief mentions, that ignores their prayers, and is not even aware of its existence. However, somehow, they manage to steal some of his power, but each time they do, they make him stir, and the consequences cannot be fathomed. Their ultimate goal is wake him, and bring about the absolute end of all things.
The Veiled Symphony
The Veiled Symphony is the mysterious power and influence from the space beyond reality from which the Old Ones originate.
Mythos Tomes
- Necronomicon
- Nexian Codex
- Pnakotic Manuscripts
- Whispering Parables
- The King in Yellow
- Azocotl Tablets
- Oracle Bones of H'sing
- Nkemdi Fragments
- On Many-Angled Arimanthic Calculus
- Dhavati Scriptures
Abberant Cosmic Horrors
Although almost all contact with cosmic horrors lead to malevolent results, there is a miniscule minority of horrors whose presence lead to benigh, or at least harmless, results for mortals. Almost all scholars agree that this benevolence is a result to senility (by cosmic horror standards). Their interactions with mortal and the material plane still results in mind-numbing horror and twisted corruption of reality, but the end results turn out to be relatively benign, and seems to benefit the cosmic horror in no apparent way (unlike most horrors, where the madness and corruption strengthens them). Termed as "aberrant horrors", every recorded encounter between them and other horrors results in the aberrant being instantly attacked and fleeing from the other horror. To date, no one understands why these aberrant horrors behave this way, and any attempt at communication has only led to confusion.
The Thul-Koon and Old Cults each attempt to bind and seal away these aberrants whenever encountered. No one can communicate with them, but non-evil being with intimate connections with the Outer Void find themselves aided by the power of these aberrants.
Known aberrant horrors:
- M'zarth-lekk, the Agony in Life
- Oonak-uloth, That Which Sees
- Golgothayak, the Cacophony of Calm
Aberrant power side-effects
- Healing: Squirming maggots appear and vomit up mucus that fuses to flesh. They cause no pain to the target, but the target feels all of them. The maggots die and rot into nothingness immediately as the healing is complete, and their vomit slowly turns into normal flesh in seconds. If you listen closely, you can hear them screaming.
- Divination: Completes as normal, but the caster feels their eyeballs or inside their head being caressed by cold, wet tentacles.
- Cure blindness/deafness: The ears/eyes are devoured by maggots. The target feels no pain, but can fully feel the maggots squirming and biting. The maggots fuse together to replace the eyes/ears. The eyes/ears become normal after a few seconds.
Mark of the Veil
The Mark of the Veil is a seven point star where each line is of a different length. Mortals discovered that this mark had power against the influence of the Elder Horrors.
- The Golden Vizier Agent of the Elder Horror on the mortal plane.
Convenant of the Void
The Convenant of the Void is a spacefaring union of hideous monsters that worship the Elder Horrors. They are a mostly nomadic state, with city-ships traveling from system to system to spread the mad words of the Old Ones. Individually, they are called Pilgrims, but their leaders are known as the Prophets.