by Matt Snyder (Original World of Darkness | The Mythos Project | Resources)
Outer Gods are the true and terrible masters of the universe. Their power is great, though they have little interest in the affairs of humans, whom they barely recognize as insignificant pests. Greater Old Ones are only slightly less powerful, though no less terrible to mortals.
Azathoth, Daemon Sultan (Outer God)
At the center of the sprawling universal chaos, Azathoth, the idiot god, reigns supreme. He is both the greatest power of the old ones and a mindless being without conscious or reason.
The court of Azathoth is a blasphemous festival where lesser abominations dance eternally playing monotonous tunes on otherworldly flutes. In the center is Azathoth, an amorphous mass of dark eyes and writhing tentacles.
Cults devoted to this Outer God are unknown. He appears only to those foolish enough to summon him by accident or chance. Those who do are destroyed according to the whim of this chaotic god.
Azathoth is often credited with the creation and eventual destruction of all existence, the chaos from which all began and to which all will once again return. Others say the mindless god is the greatest manifestation of paradox, a being comprised of oblivion itself.
Nyarlathotep, The Crawling Chaos (Outer God)
This malevolent force is the Outer God most interested in the affairs of humanity. He has a thousand incarnations, each terrible and maddening. Nyarlathotep's apparent goal is the spread of discord and chaos in the universe.
Nyarlathotep is messenger to the Greater Old Ones, the medium by which their madness is spread to the fragile minds of humans. He delights in transmitting the unknowable message of his masters to the curious and insane. The result is always the same for his victims -- destructive madness and the annihilation of identity. Nyarlathotep delights in tormenting individuals in this way, particularly those who believe he offers something more than inconceivable ruin.
The cults of Nyarlathotep are involved in secretive and complex plots. The purpose of these convoluted conspiracies is to wreak irreparable physical and psychological destruction in the world. Rituals of these cults demand horrific sacrifices that utterly destroy the body and soul of many victims. Of course, the ultimate damage a cult can unleash is the summoning of Nyarlathotep himself into the corporeal world.
Nyarlathotep is often associated with the ancient cults of Egypt. Some of his many incarnations include the Black Pharaoh and the Beast, a faceless stone sphinx whose visage reveals the despairing blackness of the cosmos. Other incarnations include the Dark Demon, the Bloated Woman, and the Haunter of the Dark, a demonic bat with a three-lobed red eye. The most commonly encountered incarnation of Nyarlathotep (perhaps his true form) is a huge three-legged form with clawed arms and a single blood-red tentacle sprouting from the torso in place of a head. At the base of the bloody appendage is a gaping, toothless orifice.
Shub-Niggurath, Mother of the Thousand Young (Outer God)
Shub-Niggurath and her young haunt the dark reaches of wooded areas all over the earth. She is the producer of the Thousand Young, horrific abominations that accept for their mother’s gruesome sacrifices.
Shub-Niggurath appears during rituals as a cloudy fog, from which hoofed feet and fleshy appendages dart and squirm. Mortals have never seen her true shape. Her children, the "Dark Young" appear as towering figures of black ropy tentacles that sprout from their thick bodies like the branches of a dead tree. Their trunks feature several vicious sucking mouths. The Dark Young maneuver with squat, hoofed feet. These abominations are likely the result of a union between Shub-Niggurath and Hastur.
She is likely the most widely worship Outer God. Human cultures have worshipped fertility gods and goddesses for centuries. Shub-Niggurath is the true dark identity of these fertility gods. She may grant plentiful harvests in exchange for blood sacrifice, carried out in frenzied ceremonies. Her Dark Young appear only in dark wooded areas, and they often accept sacrifices for their mysterious mother.
Yog-Sothoth, Lurker at the Threshold (Outer God)
This Greater Old One is a master of time and space. The entity can exist at any point and time, though it is bound outside the realm of terrestrial experience. Yog-Sothoth shares rule of all existence with the supreme Azathoth.
It appears as a dizzying mass of iridescent spheres and eldritch foam. Its shape flashes in disturbing, myriad colors and lights. This bubbling mass can assume any size or volume and travel at any speed.
Throughout history, people have mistakenly worshipped Yog-Sothoth. Most religions did not fully realize the presence they worshipped. It is possible that Yahweh, who appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai was, in fact, Yog-Sothoth freed from a terrestrial prison. The Aztecs may also have performed misguided rites for this Greater Old One.
Mages have sought the aid of Yog-Sothoth to travel among the planes of existence. The being can also grant patron mages the ability to summon creatures from other worlds. Whatever power granted to its worshippers, Yog-Sothoth always exacts the same toll from them. They are inevitably assimilated into its terrible form, their identity consumed.
Yog-Sothoth is able to appear in most any form. It has appeared as Tawil at’Umr, a cloaked figure who can guide travelers of the dimensions. This incarnation of the omnipresent being is apparently benign, though.
Cthulhu (Great Old One)
Under the Pacific Ocean, dread Cthulhu lies dreaming in the city of R'lyeh. His cults are pervasive -- every dark corner of the world conceals a few worshippers who maneuver to see their terrible master rise again from the depths.
For the present, he lies dormant in the sunken city of R'lyeh, where he once ruled the earth, millennia ago. Cthulhu waits for R'lyeh to rise again, so he will once again dominate earth with his terrible rule. Until then, mortals are left with the haunting influence of his dreams, by which he cunningly influences worshippers to seek out idols of his image and pursue the resurrection of his city.
Cthulhu is cyclopean being from beyond the stars, though few have seen his gargantuan form rise above the ocean. He is a monstrous biped with demonic wings and fierce clawed arms. Cthulhu's head is bulbous; foul red eyes peer down over a mass of writhing tentacles on his face.
While Cthulhu has no other known incarnations, he can alter his shape and size dramatically. He is apparently indestructible; Cthulhu can reform his body if his material form is damaged or destroyed.
Cthulhu may be the sire of other terrible Greater Old Ones, including Ghatanothoa, Ythogtha, Zoth-Othmog and perhaps other horrors.
Hastur, the Unspeakable (Great Old One)
Hastur is imprisoned in space, near the star Aldebaran. Even from that distant prison, he has a horrific influence on the mortals of earth.
Hastur’s true form is unknown, though other incarnations avatars have known to appear. Humans possessed by Hastur become bloated and scaly, and their bodies become a pile of boneless flesh after his departure. Incarnations of Hastur include the King in Yellow and the Feaster from Afar. As the King in Yellow, Hastur appears as a large human figure cloaked in sickly yellow robes and wearing a pallid mask. There exists an obscure play titled The King in Yellow, which has driven many of the artists and intellectuals who read it to a destructive, solitary worship of Hastur.
The decadent and nihilistic cults of Hastur are particularly abhorrent. Their ultimate aim is the summoning of Hastur to the earth. The cults seek out Mi-Go to torture the alien beings for knowledge to further their cause. Rituals of these cults take place and only under a night sky in which the star Aldebaran appears.
Servitor Races
Mi-go, the Fungi from Yuggoth
The Mi-Go is a very unusual race who travels throughout space, though they have founded a large colony on Pluto, known as Yuggoth. They have visited earth for centuries, seeking resources and to participate in studies of humans and worship of the Outer Gods.
The Mi-Go are roughly five-foot long crustacean-like beings with membranous wings, which actually propel them through the reaches of space. Pairs of articulate limbs line their bodies, and they use these both to walk and to manipulate items. Their egg-shaped heads are covered with antenna, which they use to communicate with one another by changing colors. Their bodies are not flesh, but rather a kind of fungus, which the Mi-Go can shape in to many useful forms.
On earth, the Mi-Go has established several subterranean mines. From these, they gather a precious mineral; its use is unknown. They are also involved in cults dedicated to Nyarlathotep and Shub-Niggurath. They employ humans for both mining operations and cult practices.
The Mi-Go are masters of surgical technology, able to alter life-forms in extraordinary ways. Perhaps the most unusual of these is the brain cylinder, a device that the Mi-Go use to house the brain of any life form, including humans. The brain remains alive and alert, able to manipulate machinery that can be connected to the device. The Mi-Go use brain cylinders to study life forms and also to transport individuals through space, as their bodies would not be able to survive.
Mi-Go have recently become fascinated with human thought. Because their own thought patterns are unable to think creatively, the Mi-Go have begun to study humans so they might harness the ability to make their thought patterns more efficient. Mi-Go thought is based on cause and effect, and they seem to have a finite limit of knowledge. Mi-Go must wipe select knowledge from their brains to learn anything new.
Deep Ones
The Deep Ones are humanoid amphibians that infest the earth’s oceans in great underwater cities. They are the devoted followers of Dagon and Hydra; greatest of their race who in turn offer fanatic loyalty to dread Cthulhu.
They appear as bipedal fish-men complete with gills, webbed and clawed appendages and a maw of spiny teeth. Their large bulging eyes are cruel and malevolent. The creatures are immortal, though they can be killed by violent means.
Deep Ones have the ability to breed with humans, and they have bred with whole families in coastal settlements. The offspring of a Deep One-human union appears human until it approaches adult age. At that time, the hybrid begins to develop the piscine features of their Deep One progenitors. Possible mutations include large, rounded eyes, slightly webbed digits, scaly skin and even gills.
Deep Ones inhabit all oceans on the earth, though there are notable concentrations of their race off the coast of New England and near Polynesia. Humans have been known to worship Deep Ones, offering sacrifices and mates to the sea dwellers. Deep Ones, like many human followers of Cthulhu, seek to bring the Great Old One up from his submerged tomb in lost R’lyeh.
Great Race of Yith
Millions of years ago, the Great Race of Yith came to earth and took on the bodies of large, cone-shaped life forms they found on the planet. With their unusual technology, they became builders of magnificent cities and lived for centuries perfecting scientific efforts and studying cultures, past and future.
The Yithians could project their minds into other life forms. In fact, the bodies they inhabited upon their arrival to earth were not their own. The bodies were cone-shaped, with four appendages sprouting from the tip of their large forms. Two flexible appendages terminated in pincers, and a third ended with several strange trumpet-shaped openings. Finally, a fourth appendage supported the creature’s head with three eyes that circumvented the head and strange antennae above those.
It is believed that once wiped out by the predatory flying polyps, the Great Race of Yith moved their psychic identities to another beetle-like life form.
The race was master scientists and historical scholars. They constructed fantastic cities, space-faring vessels, and unusual weapons. One such weapon was a kind of lightning gun, a camera-like weapon that could project devastating blasts of lightning.
The Yithians are notable for their ability to travel throughout time, though their technique is quite unusual. They select a being in another time and exchange conscious states with their chosen host. The Yithian lives for a few years in the form of his host, while the mind of the host is stored in the Yithians cone-shaped body. Some of these minds go mad as they are suddenly transported to another time into a monstrous body. This technique saved the Great Race from extinction.
