by Daniel Harms
Some insist that the toad-god remained in an alien species’ ruined city of Yuth in the stone desert of K’li-Phon-N’yah after his arrival on Earth. Nonetheless, most authorities agree that after its arrival it left Yuth to take up residence in the black caverns of N’Kai. It lived beneath Mount Voormithadreth for a brief while, retreating to its former home when his worship declined and the ice whelmed Hyperborea. A few heretics insist that it lies in a cavern beneath Averoigne, but they are probably incorrect. At some point Tsathoggua mated with Shathak, who begat Ossadagowah, and a serpent person with which it sired Kzadool-Ra, whom it destroyed later in a fit of jealousy.
The serpent-men of the “red-litten cavern of Yoth” were the first to worship Tsathoggua. From Yoth its worship spread to K’n-Yan, and thence to the arctic land of Lomar and the outer world. First the Voormis and later the human invaders of Hyperborea revered the toad-god. The Atlantean high priest Klarkash-ton revived its cult, and the dark Averones who fled Atlantis for Averoigne took its worship with them. The Druids of Averoigne revered the god’s utterances, voiced through a slowly devolving oracle. A French cult of Tsathoggua was powerful into medieval times and still survives today. The Narragansett and Wampanoags of Massachusetts worshiped it at one time, but they later gave up this adoration. The people of Zothique will know him as Zathogwa the Outcast, but his cult will be outlawed in those distant times.
Tsathoggua’s cult may survive in underground sanctuaries in major cities, gaining power from orgies and sacrifices. Some say that Tsathoggua gains sustenance from human war and instability. Others claim that the god has had such little worship that most of his physical substance has dispersed. Those who attend his rites may degenerate, gaining animalistic characteristics due to their proximity.
The beasts of the wood held a special reverence for Tsathoggua, and cats were known to guard its shrines in Averoigne. In addition, it is served by formless black entities called his spawn, though the exact degree of relationship between the two is unknown, and the reanimated dead. Only one of Tsathoggua’s ritual chants is known:
N’ggah-kthn-y’hhu! Cthua t’lh gup r’lhob-g’th’gg lgh thok!
G’llh-ya, Tsathoggua! Y’kn’nh, Tsathoggua!
It hath come!
Homage, Lord Tsathoggua, Father of Night!
Glory, Elder One, First-Born of Outer Entity!
Hail, Thou Who wast Ancient beyond Memory
Ere the Stars Spawned Great Cthulhu!
Power, Hoary Crawler in Mu’s fungoid places!
Iä! Iä! G’noth-ykagga-ha!
Iä, Iä, Tsathoggua!
Tsathoggua’s high rites are performed on May-Eve and Halloween. Lesser festivals are held on the nights of the new moon between midnight and 3 a.m.
Rumor has it that Tsathoggua has been cast out from his brethren among the Great Old Ones for a truly terrible and revolting act. One authority maintains that he is identical with Chaugnar Faugn, though this is unlikely.
[As Robert M. Price observes, Lovecraft and Smith’s versions of Tsathoggua are quite different in their appearances, histories, and relations to Cthulhu.]
See Atlach-Nacha; Book of Eibon; Book of K’yog; Chaugnar Faugn; Codex Dagonensis; Commoriom; Crom-Ya; Cthaat Aquadingen; Cxaxukluth; Cykranosh; du Nord, Gaspard; Eibon; elemental theory; Eye of Tsathoggua; Eye of Ubbo-Sathla; Fishers from Outside; formless spawn; Ghisguth; Great Old Ones; Hyperborea; Hziulquoigmnzhah; K’n-yan; Kythamil; N’kai; Nug and Yeb; Nyogtha; Ossadogwah; Parchments of Pnom; Satampra Zeiros; serpent-people; Shathak; Temple of the Toad; Voola ritual; Voormis; Voormithadreth; Yhoundeh; Yoth; Yuggoth; Zoth; Zstylzhemghi. (“The Terror of Toad Lake”, Ambuehl; “Death is an Elephant”, Bloch; “Tsathoggua”, Fantina; “The Old One”, Glasby; “The Oracle of Sàdoqua”, Hilger; Selected Letters III, Lovecraft; Selected Letters IV, Lovecraft; “The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop; “The Round Tower”, Price; “Oh, Baleful Theophany”, Pugmire; Cthulhu Live: Lost Souls, Salmon et. al.; The Illuminatus! Trilogy, Shea and Wilson; The Black Book of Clark Ashton Smith, Smith; “The Door to Saturn”, Smith; “The Family Tree of the Gods”, Smith; “The Seven Geases”, Smith; “The Tale of Satampra Zeiros”, Smith (O); Necronomicon, Tyson; “The Resurrection of Kzadool-Ra”, Vester.)
TSATHOGGUANS
Beings that infest the minds of every person and keep them from fulfilling their whole potential. Although the name suggests the Mythos, they are totally unconnected with Tsathoggua or any other Great Old One.
(The Mind Parasites, Wilson (O).)
T’SMAN MANUSCRIPT
Work of at least six volumes, each apparently written by a different author to detail the history of the Old Ones. Nothing is known of most of the authors. The writer of the fourth book was Ythth Ghuggl’ingh, a priest of Nyarlathotep, to whom an old man had passed on the duty of writing a volume. Ythth in turn chose a Scandinavian named Valdur to compose the fifth, providing him with much of the material. Nyarlathotep was enraged when he found out how much this particular volume had revealed, imprisoning Ythth and killing Valdur, but he was unable to find the fifth volume.
An edition of this work was issued by Robert Edwards. This might be identical with one in an unknown language with an Elder Sign on the cover.
(“The Curse of the Toad”, Hall and Dale; “The Gunfight against Nyarlathotep”, Larson; “The Spawn of the Y’lagh”, Larson (O).)
TULZSCHA
Being who appears to be a pillar of green flame and serves as one of the dancers at Azathoth’s court. It is worshiped in the West Indies, France, Italy, and possibly the Middle East. A cult based in Kingsport, Massachusetts disbanded approximately two hundred and fifty years ago.
Rites of Tulzscha are always performed at solstices, equinoxes, or other astronomically significant times. It is said that the most faithful of Tulzscha’s worshipers survive death in a fashion, dwelling forever in their rotting corpses.
[This creature is first described in Lovecraft, who does not call it a god and hints that deeper mysteries await the members of the Kingsport cult.]
See Outer Gods. (“The Festival”, Lovecraft (O); “The Kingsport Cult”, Ross.)
THE TUNNELER BELOW
Book of poems by Georg Reuter Fischer, a young man from Vulture’s Roost, California. Hollywood’s Ptolemy Press published the book in 1936. Much as other writers, Fischer received the inspiration for this volume of poems from his dreams. In addition, he acknowledged the influence of Derby’s Azathoth and Other Horrors upon his work. Unfortunately, a year after the book’s publication, Fischer perished in an earthquake which destroyed his home.
Both UCLA and Miskatonic University own copies of this book. The poems in the Tunneler Below include such works as “The Green Deeps” and “Sea Tombs”. These two works contain references to “Cutlu”, “Rulay”, and “Nath”, though the author does not explain what these terms mean.
See Azathoth and Other Horrors. (“The Terror from the Depths”, Leiber (O).)
TUSCAN RITUALS
Volume that, according to the Roman historian Pliny, contains information on the rites of Summanus. This book probably came from the Tuscany province of Italy. A copy may be consulted at the British Museum.
[Pliny’s Natural History (II.53) actually refers to “Tuscan writings” on the nine gods responsible for lightning.]
See Summanus. (“What Dark God?”, Lumley (O).)
TUTTLE, AMOS
Occultist who lived near Arkham. A noted world traveler earlier in his life, Tuttle spent the last twenty years of his life secluded in his house, studying his priceless collection of occult manuscripts. After his death in 1936, his house was passed on to his nephew Paul. Paul vanished soon thereafter, and his books were bequeathed to the Miskatonic University library.
(“The Return of Hastur”, Derleth (O); Miskatonic University, Johnson et. al.; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)
TWIN OBSCENITIES
Title given to the Great Old Ones Zhar and Lloigor, who lie imprisoned together beneath th
e Plateau of Sung.
See Lloigor; Zhar. (“The Lair of the Star-Spawn”, Derleth and Schorer (O).)
T’YOG
High priest of Shub-Niggurath in the country of K’naa on Mu. He made a special scroll to protect him during his confrontation with Ghatanothoa, but Ghatanothoa’s priests substituted another scroll for his. As a result of this, T’yog earned himself an unpleasant fate.
See Ghatanothoa; Shub-Niggurath. (“Out of the Aeons”, Lovecraft and Heald (O).)
TYPER, ALONZO HASBROUCH
Occultist from Kingston, NY who vanished near the abandoned van der Heyl mansion on April 17, 1908. Typer went to private school as a youth, and was later to attend Columbia and the University of Heidelburg, where he became the pupil of the noted anthropologist Victor Gibson. He traveled in the East a great deal, making it as far as Easter Island in 1899, visiting many sites with his now-vanished friend Victor Heauton. Even his colleagues considered Typer’s research bizarre; many of his occult papers could only be privately published, and he resigned from the Society for Psychical Research in 1902. His disappearance has left authorities puzzled, though a diary found in the van der Heyl mansion in 1935 and the Reverend Edgar Dowling’s psychic research have provided wildly unlikely accounts of his life thereafter.
See the Book of Hidden Things. (“The Diary of Alonzo Typer”, Lovecraft and Lumley (O); “The Statement of One John Gibson”, Lumley; “The Strange Fate of Alonzo Typer”, Price; “The Jest of Yig”, Webb.)
U
* * *
UBAR
See Irem.
UBB (also UB-BG’ZTH)
Being known as “The Father of Worms.” Ubb is the leader of the mysterious race known as the yugg, which number among its offspring, the Ubbya. When encountered, Ubb has resembled a huge member of that species. Ubb assisted Zanthu in the destruction of Mu. it is believed to have been the source of King Solomon’s wealth and supposed magical abilities.
Some have attributed even greater power to Ubb, stating that it is a force which encourages all living things to survive and multiply.
See yuggs; yuggya. (“Out of the Ages”, Carter (O); “The Thing in the Pit”, Carter; Other Nations, Marsh and Marsh; “A Private Inquiry into the Possible Whereabouts of Clara Boyd”, Marsh et. al.; “Soul of the Devil-Bought”, Price.)
UBBO-SATHLA
Protoplasmic, featureless being said to have spawned all earthly life (possibly including humans), and to whom all such life will return in the end. Its spawn are endlessly created and cast off about it, with Ubbo-Sathla recapturing and devouring many of them with its pseudopods.
There are a number of conflicting stories about Ubbo-Sathla’s origins. It has been said that eons ago, when our world was in an alternate universe, the Elder Gods created both Azathoth and Ubbo-Sathla to be their slaves. Ubbo-Sathla rebelled against its makers, using knowledge stolen from them to send itself and the earth into this dimension. During the battle which ensued, the Elder Gods captured Ubbo-Sathla and made it mindless (though some maintain that it was this way to begin with), as they were purported to have done with Azathoth as well. Other myths state that Ubbo-Sathla was the creation of the Elder Things, who used it initially to spawn their shoggoths.
Some hold that Ubbo-Sathla is also the parent of all of the Great Old Ones who opposed the Elder Gods, as well as the Great Ones who men worship. Considering the extraterrene origins of most of the Great Old Ones, this is probably inaccurate. Rather, it is likely that Ubbo-Sathla entered into alliance with the Great Old Ones when they came down from the stars and aided them in their designs. A few of the Great Old Ones, such as Nyogtha and Zuchequon, seem to have originated upon this planet, and these may be the spawn of Ubbo-Sathla to whom these passages refer.
Ubbo-Sathla dwells beneath the ground in grey-lit Y’qaa (or possibly Mount Voormithadreth), guarding a set of stone tablets said to bear the knowledge of the Elder Gods themselves. Many wizards have attempted to gain these tablets, but not one has ever succeeded.
It is rumored that Ubbo-Sathla and Abhoth are the same; the voormis of Hyperborea may have worshiped Ubbo-Sathla, and in their disgust the Hyperboreans who came later re-named their god “Abhoth.” Known encounters with these two gods argue otherwise, however. Others have called Ubbo-Sathla the source of all the life in the cosmos, but this blatantly contradicts much of our knowledge of this being.
See Elder Gods; Elder Key; Elder Things; Nioth-Korghai; Nyogtha; proto-shoggoths; Sothoth; Y’qaa; Zon Mezzamalech; Zuchequon. (“The Unbegotten Source”, Carter; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “Star-Spawn of Hyperborea”, Fultz; The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “The Snout in the Alcove”, Myers; A Guide to the Cthulhu Cult, Pelton; “Ubbo-Sathla”, Smith (O).)
UBBOTH
Black lake beneath the surface of the moon in which Mnomquah dwells.
See Mnomquah. (Mad Moon of Dreams, Lumley.)
UBBYA
See Ubb.
ULTHAR (also ULDAR)
1) Dreamlands town near the river Skai. Ulthar is a small village of medieval cottages and cobblestoned streets. In Ulthar, the killing of a cat is strictly forbidden, due to a mysterious event that took place two hundred years ago. As a consequence, this city is a great favorite for felines. On Ulthar’s highest hill stands the Temple of the Elder Ones, where the high priest Atal lives and a substantial library of magical texts is kept. See Atal; Barzai; Fourth Book of D’harsis; Hatheg; Nir; Pnakotic Manuscripts; Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan; Skai. (“The Cats of Ulthar”, Lovecraft (O); “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft.)
2) As Uldar, Elder God mentioned in the Sussex Manuscript. Ulthar was the son of Sothoth and represented the power of the Elder Gods. The Elder Gods sent him to earth to keep track of the Great Old Ones, but he requires periodic rituals to keep up his vigilance. See N’gah-Kthun; Sothoth; Ultharathotep. (A Guide to the Cthulhu Cult, Pelton; The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton (O).)
ULTHARATHOTEP
Avatar of the Elder God Ulthar who the assembled high priests summoned once every thousand years to the city of N’gah-Kthun.
See Ulthar. (The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton (O).)
ULTRAVIOLET, THE
See Tillinghast Resonator.
‘UMR AT-TAWIL (or TAWIL AT-’UMR or properly in Arabic TAWIL AL-’UMR)
God whose Arabic name literally translates as “The Prolonged of Life.” ‘Umr at-Tawil appears as a figure draped in grey fabric, holding a sphere of iridescent metal in one hand. He might also appear as a great bipedal canine, like the Egyptian depictions of Anubis.
This being is the head of the Ancient Ones, as well as the guardian of the final gateway opened by the owner of the Silver Key. While most consider ‘Umr at-Tawil to be an avatar or manifestation of Yog-Sothoth, other sources refer to him as a human who passed through the Ultimate Gate, met Yog-Sothoth, and gave himself up to the god, thereupon becoming the Guardian of the Gate. The Book of Thoth states that dealing with this entity is fraught with peril, and none who he accepts ever return.
It has been suggested that ‘Umr at-Tawil is a part of a person’s mind which must be overcome or destroyed to gain true knowledge. Others state that the spirit respects great warriors, rewarding great slaughter and calling spirits out of Limbo to give power to those who are worthy. Whether these are true remains uncertain.
See Ancient Ones; Book of Thoth; Klarkash-Ton; Silver Key; Yog-Sothoth. (“The Book of the Gates”, Carter; Cthulhu Dark Ages, Gesbert et. al., Outside the Circles of Time, Grant; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price; “The Lord of Illusion”, Price (O).)
UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN (also the BLACK BOOK or NAMELESS CULTS)
Volume by Friedrich Wilhelm von Junzt (1795–1840), an occultist and explorer of some note. Immediately after finishing Unaussprechlichen Kulten, von Junzt left for parts unknown. After returning from a trip to Mongolia, von Junzt shut himself up in his room and spent months writing a new manuscript.
Six months following his return, he was found in his locked and barred room strangled, his notes torn and scattered about him. The contents of this document remain a mystery, for after von Junzt’s friend Alexis Ladeau pieced it together and read it, he burnt the pages and cut his throat.
The Dusseldorf publisher Gottfried Mülder put out a German edition of Unaussprechlichen Kulten in 1839. Many who owned the book, however, destroyed it after they learned of its author’s fate. The book might have been forgotten if not for the Jesuit Pierre Sansrire’s French translation, presumably made in order to teach his students about the cults of the world. The book was printed in St. Malo in 1843; no copies are known to survive.