Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia

by Daniel Harms

  (“Introduction” to Dreams from R’lyeh, Carter; “The Last Ritual”, Carter (O); Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

  NECRONOMICON

  See appendices.

  NEPHREN-KA (also known as the Black Pharaoh)

  Mythical ruler of ancient Egypt. The earliest such figure, mentioned in the Necronomicon, was a lord of Acheron buried in a shroud containing the secrets of Nyarlathotep. Little more is known about him, however.

  Most scholars are in firmer agreement that Nephren-Ka was the last pharaoh of the Third Dynasty. Legend has it that Nephren-Ka was a mighty sorcerer, the greatest of Egypt’s priest-kings. He made a deal with Nyarlathotep in the lost city of Irem, and upon his return revived the worship of that god in that land (indeed, some even considered him to be Nyarlathotep’s avatar) and ruled the land as pharaoh. During his reign the priesthoods of Bast, Anubis, and Sebek flourished. The Black Pharaoh is also credited with the discovery of the Shining Trapezohedron.

  There was great discontent within the populace due to these changes, and soon thereafter the people of Egypt were in revolt. In the end, Sneferu, the founder of the Fourth Dynasty who had received aid from the goddess Isis, prevailed over the Dark Pharaoh. Nephren-Ka made his way toward the coast, in order to escape to a “western island.” Enemy forces cut him off, however, somewhere near the site of modern-day Cairo. The evil pharaoh and his priests vanished, having buried themselves in an underground vault whose location has remained a secret to this day. Baffled, Sneferu declared the Black Pharaoh dead and had Nephren-Ka’s name stricken from all records and monuments.

  In the depths of his hidden funeral vault, Nephren-Ka sacrificed one hundred victims to Nyarlathotep. In exchange for this gift, the Mighty Messenger bestowed the gift of prophecy upon his servant. Nephren-Ka spent the last days of his life drawing the future of the world on the walls of his tomb.

  The Sixth Dynasty saw the rise of Queen Nitocris, who revived the worship of Nyarlathotep. Some say that another (or possibly the same?) Nephren-Ka appeared at the end of that dynasty, the child of Nitocris and Nyarlathotep. We have virtually no information about his reign, however.

  During the Eighteenth Dynasty, Amenhotep IV (or Akhenaten) found the remains of Nephren-Ka and magically called up the dead wizard. Nephren-Ka influenced the young pharaoh, convincing him to transform his land’s religion into the disguised worship of his own gods. Nephren-Ka soon realized that the time for his resurgence was not right, and returned to his tomb, leaving Akhenaten’s reign to fall.

  No one knows what happened to the remaining followers of the Black Pharaoh. Some say they were pushed south into the swamps beyond the Sudan. Others assert that the cultists traveled to Britain. A third school of thought holds that the magicians remained in Egypt, carrying on their worship in secret.

  The tomb of Nephren-Ka likewise remains a mystery. Contemporary records state that the Collapsed Pyramid at Meidum and the Bent Pyramid of Dahshur were both built for the internment of Nephren-Ka and that he rests in the Bent Pyramid. No explorers of this pyramid have found any trace of his remains, however. It has been suggested that seven thousand years after his death, the Black Pharaoh will rise again.

  [Bloch mentions “biblical times” and The Book of the Dead in “Fane,” which places the dark pharaoh’s life sometime around the Twentieth Dynasty. Subsequent authors have placed him in the Third, Sixth, Fourteenth, and Eighteenth Dynasties.]

  See Bast; Black Pharaoh; Bowen, Enoch; Hadoth; Hutchinson, Edward; Kish; Nitocris; Nyarlathotep (The Beast, Black Wind); Prinn, Ludwig; Saracenic Rituals; Shining Trapezohedron. (Cairo Guidebook, Anderson; “Fane of the Black Pharaoh”, Bloch; “The Strange Doom of Enos Harker”, Carter and Price; “The Papyrus of Nephren-Ka”, Culp; Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis; “The History of Nephren-Ka”, Harris; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “The Haunter of the Dark”, Lovecraft; “The Outsider”, Lovecraft (O); “Ghoul’s Tale”, Price.)

  NEPHREN-KA NAI HADOTH

  See Hutchinson, Edward.

  NESTAR MOBEDAN MOBED

  Self-proclaimed Zoroastrian prophet of the sixth century. He and his followers mocked the excesses of the more orthodox priests, departing into the wilderness soon thereafter. Twenty years later, they returned in great numbers to Nestar’s home city, which they assaulted in order to attain and immolate the Tower of Gold, as they called the priests’ temple. The city guard slew Nestar, however, and most of his worshipers were captured and killed.

  The remnants of Nestar’s followers returned to their secret dwellings in the hills, where they discovered Nestar’s letters of instruction to his people. Following his commands, the majority of the cult emigrated to India and Russia, where they live to this day. It is rumored that other branches survive elsewhere, but this has not been confirmed.

  See Cthugha. (“This Fire Shall Kill”, Bishop (O); Keeper’s Compendium, Herber.)

  NEW DUNNICH

  See Dunwich.

  NEW WORLD INCORPORATED

  One of the largest international companies of the Twenties, involved in advanced technology, shipbuilding, and munitions. NWI came into prominence due to the hard work of Edward Chandler, a prominent businessman and philanthropist who perished in an accident in 1929. The company reorganized as New World Industries in the Fifties and moved to Bermuda in the Seventies. More recently, it has branching out into the latest areas of information processing and bioengineering. Even though turnover is high, NWI is known for its supportive attitude toward its employees.

  (“Worms”, Harrigan; Fungi from Yuggoth, Herber (O); “Dawn Biozyme”, Isinwyll and Hike.)

  N’GAH-KTHUN

  1) Pre-human city in which the high temple of the Elder God Ulthar was built. Once every thousand years, the rulers and priests of all of Earth’s empires would come here to the ritual of B’kal to call the avatar of Ulthar to our world.

  See Ultharathotep. (“The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft (O); The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton.)

  2) The leader of the mi-go. (“Zoth-Ommog”, Carter (O).)

  N’GAI, WOOD OF

  The most sacred of all of Nyarlathotep’s places of worship, said to be located somewhere in Wisconsin.

  See Nyarlathotep (Dweller in Darkness); Rick’s Lake. (“The Dweller in Darkness”, Derleth.)

  NGRANEK

  1) Dormant volcano located on the southern isle of Oriab in Earth’s Dreamlands. Its peaks are rugged and bare, and only lava-cutters collecting rock to make their famous carvings climb it. The place has a bad reputation, for many have vanished without a trace while climbing Mount Ngranek. On the mountain’s far side, the earth’s gods carved a huge stone face before they returned to their homes on Kadath. See Oriab; vooniths. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O).)

  2) God of the dark worshiped by a small cult of ghouls, who take the carved face on Mount Ngranek to be his image. (The Complete Dreamlands, Williams and Petersen (O).)

  NGYR-KHORATH

  Being that haunted the spaces in which our solar system was formed. It came to consciousness when earth began to spawn life, thereby developing a virulent hatred for it. At this point, the being Paighon came from the Andromeda Galaxy and beat back Ngyr-Khorath’s foul schemes. Ngyr-Khorath may only achieve its goals by contacting susceptible individuals and urging them to aid in its destruction of all life. This can occur through the minds of those using hallucinogens to have visions of the solar system, though the god has had little success in this regard so far. He may also manifest through an offshoot or avatar called ‘Ymnar who can contact its cultists without inducing immediate madness. Von Konnenberg asserts that Ngyr-Khorath is but a manifestation of a force he calls Mlandoth.

  See Book of Thoth; Chronicles of Thrang, Uralte Schrecken. (“The Barrett Horror”, DeBill; “Ngyr-Khorath”, DeBill (O); “Where Yidhra Walks”, DeBill.)

  N’HLATHI

  Centipede-like beings that inhabit the Valley of Dreams at the base of the Purple Mountain in Elysia. They spend mo
st of their time hibernating in tunnels behind metal doors bearing glyphs which even Elysia’s greatest sages are unable to decipher. These creatures are undoubtedly intelligent, but attempts to communicate with them have been futile. Once every ten thousand years, the poppies bloom in the Valley of Dreams, and the N’hlathi emerge to feed upon their seeds, returning afterwards to their homes to hibernate once more. The only time when this cycle is known to have been broken was during the Great Old Ones’ uprising.

  (Elysia, Lumley; The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley (O).)

  NIGHTGAUNTS

  Species found in both the Dreamlands and the waking world. Anatomically, they are much like humans, save for their whale-like skin, huge bat-wings, horns, and a blankness where their faces should be. (How these beings are able to sense their surroundings without the proper organs has not been determined.) Most are black in color, though one rare white one was reported. Sometimes they carry tridents, but otherwise they bear no tools or weapons.

  Nightgaunts are usually found in desolate places, as far from humanity as possible. If a traveler intrudes upon their territory, the nightgaunts ambush and carry them through the air, tickling their victim with their large barbed tails if they struggle. Those who continue to fight back are dropped from a great height; those who do not are taken to strange and dangerous places, and then abandoned there (in the Dreamlands, the Vale of Pnath is a particular favorite.) Some say that even if the nightgaunts are defeated, they will return to the victim later until their mission of terror is satisfied.

  Nightgaunts are said to follow Nodens, Lord of the Great Abyss, but are allied to some degree with the ghouls, Yibb-Tstll, Yegg-ha, and the Lords of Luz, a realm beneath the mountains separating Inganok from Leng. It has been suggested that the nightgaunts are native to the Dreamlands’ Great Abyss, and that those which serve other entities than Nodens and the ghouls were captured as infants and raised by these beings. The nightgaunts have formed alliances at times with other beings, and in at least one instance have willingly served a human master.

  The summoning of a nightgaunt requires the use of a stone bearing the Elder Sign at night, but nothing else is known of this procedure.

  See ghouls; Nodens; Pnath; shantak; Yegg-Ha; Yibb-Tstll. (“The Winfield Inheritance”, Carter; Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, Cook and Tynes, “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); Dreams and Fancies, Lovecraft; Hero of Dreams, Lumley; “The Horror at Oakdeene”, Lumley; “The Exorcism of Iagsat”, Pulver.)

  NIGHT-GAUNT

  First novel written by Edgar Henquist Gordon. Published by Charnel House of London, its morbid subject matter made it a commercial failure.

  (“The Dark Demon”, Bloch (O); “The Winfield Heritance”, Carter.)

  NIOTH KORGHAI

  1) Monster which will come to earth in the time of Zothique, riding a comet out of the sky. The great king Ossaru will find the monster and bring it back to his palace, occasionally sacrificing youths to satiate its hunger. In the end, however, both Ossaru and Nioth Korghai will perish and be buried forever in the same tomb.

  [Lin Carter linked this monster to the Mythos, but gave no reason for favoring Nioth Korghai over any of Smith’s other Zothique creature. He also stated that Nioth Korghai will be the last being to live on this planet, a fact the story directly contradicts.]

  (“The Tomb-Spawn”, Smith (O).)

  2) Aquatic creatures from the planet Karthis near Rigel that feed off human lifeforce. These beings travel between star-systems in a ship of immense size, taking their nourishment from the beings whose planets they pass. They refer to themselves as being “of the Ubbo-Sathla”, and may be related to that god in some way. (Ye Booke of Monstres, Aniolowski; The Space Vampires, Wilson (O).)

  NIR.

  Village that lies between the Enchanted Wood and Ulthar. It has only a single street and a stone bridge across the river Skai; the bridge had a human sacrifice interred within when it was built thirteen centuries ago..

  See Hatheg; Lerion. (“The Cats of Ulthar”, Lovecraft (O); “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft.)

  NITHON

  According to some sources, one of the moons of the great world Yuggoth. Heavy phosphorescent clouds that block out all sunlight cover Nithon, and strange fungi sprout on its continents.

  (“Nithon”, Fantina; “Star-Winds”, Lovecraft (O); “The Discovery of the Ghooric Zone”, Lupoff.)

  NITHY-VASH

  Dreamlands town to the south of Celephaïs. Nithy-Vash lies on a green hillside, and most of its buildings are quaint thatched cottages. Of especial note there are the temple of Nath-Horthath and the shop of Getech the curio-dealer.

  (“The Four Sealed Jars”, Myers (O); H. P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands, Petersen et. al.)

  NITOCRIS

  Sixth Dynasty queen of Egypt. During her reign, she revived the worship of the Black Pharaoh, or Nyarlathotep, and legend says her cruelty knew no bounds. She is said to have invited many of her officials and priests to a lavish banquet-hall one night, and then flooded the area, inundating the revelers. She is also known to have owned the Shining Trapezohedron used by the evil pharaoh Nephren-Ka.

  One of the blackest tales of the reign of this queen involves the so-called “Mirror of Nitocris”. The queen unearthed this artifact from the vaults of Kish, where legend told that Nephren-Ka had left it, and Nitocris used it in many ways. She often left a condemned prisoner in a room with the mirror for one night; in the morning, the victim had vanished completely.

  At the end of her reign, Nitocris was buried alive within her tomb, the exact location of which has never been revealed.

  [While she has undergone considerable changes in Cthulhu Mythos fiction, Nitocris is a legendary figure. Her brother was the pharaoh before her, and her infamous drowning of her courtiers was said to be vengeance for his death. Nitocris is said to have killed herself afterward by throwing herself into a chamber of “hot ashes”. No contemporary Egyptian accounts of these events have been discovered, so they likely have no basis in fact. Two other women named Nitocris — a Babylonian queen and a Twenty-Sixth Dynasty daughter of a pharaoh — should not be confused with this one.]

  See Black Brotherhood; Kish; Nyarlathotep; People of the Monolith; Shining Trapezohedron. (“Imprisoned with the Pharaohs”, Lovecraft and Houdini (O); “The Mirror of Nitocris”, Lumley.)

  N’KAI (possibly also N’KEN)

  Dark cavern that is the home of the Great Old One Tsathoggua. It is usually said to lie beneath the subterranean land of Yoth, though others place it beneath Mount Voormithadreth. Entrances to it are as far apart as the Carlsbad Cavern and the Black Forest of Germany, so it may be that it lies in another dimension entirely.

  The people of Yoth took images of Tsathoggua from these caverns. A later exploration to N’kai from the caves of K’n-yan found only amorphous servitors of Tsathoggua which oozed down stone troughs and worshiped the toad-god’s many idols. The expedition’s survivors sealed off the passage. Since then, there have been several attempts to discover the location of this entrance, but none have been successful.

  See formless spawn; K’n-yan; Tsathoggua; Yoth. (“The Grinning Ghoul”, Bloch; The Life of Eibon according to Cyron of Varaad, Carter; “The Alchemist’s Notebook”, Hurd and Baetz; Selected Letters III, Lovecraft; “The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop (O).)

  NNG

  See Nug.

  NOCTUARY OF VIZOORANOS

  See Book of Night.

  NODENS (also LORD OF THE GREAT ABYSS)

  Being who is often placed among the Elder Gods, and indeed may be the most famous of them. He is usually represented as an old man standing with an oaken staff in one hand on a seashell chariot drawn by fantastic beasts. At times he is depicted as having a beard of tentacles as well.

  Nodens bears special love for dreamers and visionaries. He has been known to take such individuals on trips with him across space and time. He is also the lord of the nightgaunts, though at times his power over them
seems limited.

  According to some, Nodens last came to Earth billions of years in the past and was worshiped by certain beings of which we know nothing. He left when the Great Old Ones arrived, and he and his worshipers made their way to the far future, when Nodens would once again walk the lands of Earth. This myth holds that Nodens and Yog-Sothoth are opposed to one another. This is hard to reconcile with the other known manifestations of Nodens, unless Nodens has avatars that visit our planet periodically.

  In other stories, the gods of Earth have entrusted Nodens with guarding the prisons of the Great Old Ones. There will come a time, though, when Nodens himself will cease his vigilance and sleep. Then the Great Old Ones will be freed from their tombs.