Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia

by Daniel Harms

  KRUSCHTYA EQUATION: A mathematical formula that causes Nyarlathotep to possess the person who solves it. (Malleus Monstrorum, Aniolowski (O).)

  LROGG (Uranus): On the world of L’gy’hx (Uranus), the metallic natives and some rebellious insects from Shaggai worship Nyarlathotep in the form of a two-headed bat. The rites are not particularly bloodthirsty, and the worshipers are only required to make an annual sacrifice of one of their number. (Ye Booke of Monstres, Aniolowski; “The Insects from Shaggai”, Campbell (O).)

  MANY-LEGGED GOAT: This form is only known from references made in ceremonies dedicated to the Crawling Chaos. (A Night in the Lonesome October, Zelazny (O).)

  THE MASKED MESSENGER: This female avatar wearing a bronze mask is best known in Morocco. (Secrets of Kenya, Conyers (O).)

  MESSENGER OF THE OLD ONES: This avatar resembles a tremendous black mass which moves through the sky, constantly throwing out streamers with which it seems to pulls itself through the air. The Messenger only appears for extremely important events, such as the emergence of Cthulhu from his tomb. (Ye Booke of Monsters, Aniolowski; “The Willow Platform”, Brennan (O);”The Rise of R’lyeh”, Petersen.)

  POOL OF SHADOW (Druids): One small Druid-cult has worshiped Nyarlathotep for millennia. He often appears at their rites in this form, but will transform into another if attacked. (The Arkham Evil, Diaper et. al. (O).)

  QUEEN IN RED: A dangerous woman dressed in red who sometimes displays demonic features. She is considered a counterpart of the King in Yellow, though the relationship of the two figures is unclear. See Queen in Red. (Malleus Monstrorum, Aniolowski (O).)

  SET (Egypt): Nyarlathotep has been known to appear in the guise of this Egyptian deity. Several hidden cults to it, including the “Majestic Order of the Great Dark One”, may still exist in Egypt. (“The Sundial of Amen-Tet”, Aniolowski (O).)

  SHUGORAN (Malaysia): A black humanoid figure represented as playing a sort of horn. The Tcho-tcho people of Malaysia revere this being, calling it forth to take vengeance against those who have offended them. (“Black Man with a Horn”, Klein (O); Escape from Innsmouth, Ross.)

  SKELETAL HORROR (Egypt): This rare manifestation resembles a twelve-foot living skeleton with the head of a human embryo and tremendous claws on his hands. Nyarlathotep only takes on this form when he transforms from one of his other avatars due to an attack. (“Thoth’s Dagger”, Hamblin (O).)

  SKINLESS ONE (Middle East): A particularly despicable cult in Turkey and the surrounding area reveres Nyarlathotep in the guise of a flayed corpse. (Horror on the Orient Express, Gillan et. al. (O).)

  SMALL CRAWLER (India): This form consists of a dwarfed human figure, with four arms and three tentacles as legs. It is mentioned in the Cthaat Aquadingen and has a small following in India. See Cthaat Aquadingen. (Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis (O).)

  SPIRALING WORM (Congo): Imprisoned long ago in the Temple of Akhnut in the depths of the jungle, this reality-devouring avatar is the focus of a cult led by the masked Skunga-Zu that seeks to free it. (“The Spiraling Worm”, Conyers and Sunseri (O).)

  TEZCATLIPOCA (Mexico): A man with dark skin with a smoking mirror in place of one of his feet. Tezcatlipoca was one of the Aztec’s most important deities. (A Resection of Time, Johnson (O).)

  THING IN THE YELLOW MASK (Dreamlands): An entity draped in yellow silk, it visited the abandoned city of ‘Ygiroth on Mount Lerion, and some say it dwells in the nameless monastery on the Plateau of Leng. Although most consider the King in Yellow to be an avatar of Hastur, this may provide an alternate explanation. See High Priest Not to be Described; King in Yellow. (“In ‘Ygiroth”, DeBill; “Celephaïs”, Lovecraft (O); “The Elder Pharos”, Lovecraft.)

  THOTH (Egypt): This hypothetical form, resembling an ibis-headed human, may be the guise which Nyarlathotep adopted for use among the early Egyptians. (“Thoth’s Dagger”, Hamblin (O).)

  TICK TOCK MAN: Nyarlathotep manifests as an artificial intelligence in this form, whether driven by electricity or clockwork. (“I Dream of Wires”, Aniolowski (O).)

  WAILING WRITHER: A column of whirling black tentacles and screaming mouths. This particular form of Nyarlathotep has been known to possess a chosen victim, later bursting apart its host’s body upon its departure. Though it is alluded to in some Hindu tales, the Writher has no known worshipers. (Escape from Innsmouth, Ross (O).)

  WHITE MAN (New England): A glowing blond young man wearing dazzlingly white robes. Nyarlathotep’s only known appearance in this form was to a splinter group of the Shakers, though once again parallels may be found in the witch-trial accounts. (“The Madness out of Space”, Cannon (O).)

  See Abbith; Book of Azathoth; Black Rites; Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh; Byagoona; Cthugha; Cthulhu; Dreamlands; elemental theory; Fable of Nyarlathotep; ghouls; Great Old Ones; gugs; hunting horrors; Kadath; Koth; London, Teddy; Million Favoured Ones; moon-beasts; Necronomicon (appendices); Nephren-Ka; N’gai; Nitocris; Nophru-Ka; Other Gods; Outer Gods; sand-dwellers; Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan; shantaks; Sharnoth; Sign of Eibon; Smith, Morgan; S’ngac; Sorcerie de Demonologie; Stygia; T’sman Manuscript; World of Seven Suns; Yegg-ha; Yig; ‘Ymnar. (“The Faceless God”, Bloch; “The Shadow from the Steeple”, Bloch; “The Dweller in Darkness”, Derleth; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft; Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes; Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis; Fungi from Yuggoth, Lovecraft; “Nyarlathotep” (prose poem), Lovecraft (O); “The Rats in the Walls”, Lovecraft; The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; Elysia, Lumley; “The Worm of Urakhu”, Tierney; Alhazred, Tyson.)

  NYHARGO CODE

  Arabic script that should be written on a wall using blue and green chalk. Its powers and uses are unknown.

  (“Lord of the Worms”, Lumley; “Rising with Surtsey”, Lumley (O).)

  NYHARGO DIRGE

  Chant contained within the Cthaat Aquadingen and the Codex Dagonensis. It may be used to destroy zombies and other of the living dead that possess a physical body.

  (Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “Billy’s Oak”, Lumley (O); Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

  NYOGTHA (also the THING THAT SHOULD NOT BE)

  Great Old One spawned of Tsathoggua or Ubbo-Sathla which appears as a dark amorphous mass. It possesses vampiric characteristics, feeding off the souls of those with whom it comes into contact.

  Nyogtha dwells deep beneath the earth in the caverns of Yoth, or possibly within a dark world circling Arcturus. It can only manifest itself through certain openings to the upper world. Such openings have been found in Massachusetts, Syria, Tartary, Romania, New Zealand and the Plateau of Leng, but they undoubtedly exist in other places as yet undiscovered.

  Nyogtha is not thought to have an active cult, though solitary sorcerers invoke it to gain personal power. It has been connected with at least one of the witches executed in the Salem witch-trials, and there have been other instances of worship scattered worldwide. Some cults associated with ghouls also serve Nyogtha. The Thing that Should Not Be may be summoned at the entrance of a cavern leading to its home.

  One theory about Nyogtha suggests that Nyogtha possesses a link to the Elder Things. Nyogtha appealed to these aliens to aid its growth, and the Elder Things agreed, hoping to control it. However, as they had feared, Nyogtha began to break away from their control. In response, they constructed a huge magical shield that kept Nyogtha imprisoned in a cavern on his native New Zealand, unable to reach his full maturity. This theory does not explain how Nyogtha has manifested itself elsewhere in the world.

  No matter what his nature, Nyogtha is relatively easy to drive off. Use of an ankh, the Vach-Viraj chant, or the Tikkoun Elixir will cause Nyogtha to return to the caverns from whence it came. Since these three items are all connected with life and purity, it may be that other chants or items with the same connections might be useful as well.

  See elemental theory; ghouls; Naggoob; Pharos of Leng; Tikkoun elixir; Ubbo-Sathla; Vach-Viraj. (“The Acolyte
of the Flame”, Carter; “The Book of Dismissals”, Carter; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “The Stairs in the Crypt”, Carter and Smith; “Castle Dark”, Herber; “What Every Coin Has”, Henderson; “The Salem Horror”, Kuttner (O); The Thing at the Threshold, McConnell; Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, 5th ed., Petersen and Willis.)

  O

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  OAKDEENE SANITARIUM

  English mental institution located near Glasgow. Despite the high quality of care given to the patients, the Sanitarium is best remembered for the scandal caused by the death of five inmates and one attendant on the night of January 1, 1936.

  See Cthaat Aquadingen; Spellman, Martin; Visions from Yaddith. (The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “The Horror at Oakdeene”, Lumley (O).)

  OATHS OF DAGON

  Vows taken by worshipers of Dagon to ensure loyalty to their god and his cult. All members take the First Oath; this vow ensures that the person will not allow the Order to come to harm. The second is intended for more devoted members and calls that person to actively aid the deep ones in their projects. Only a few take the third Oath, as it couples the oath-taker with a companion deep one, with whom the person must have children to perpetuate the deep one race. Some say that the Third Oath will also awaken the deep one blood in a person. Knowledge of the deep one tongue is also expected of those who take the third Oath. Evidence suggests that there may be even higher levels of oaths taken by deacons and priests in the Order.

  (“It was the Day of the Deep One”, Cannon; “A New Beginning”, Hicks and Jantsang; “The Shadow over Innsmouth”, Lovecraft (O); “The Transition of Zadok Allen”, Price; Escape from Innsmouth, Ross.)

  OBSERVATIONS ON SEVERAL PARTS OF AFRICA

  Book by Sir Wade Jermyn, an explorer who made three trips to the Congo, published in 1768. Jermyn is best remembered not for his discoveries, but for his eccentricities. After his second trip, for example, he brought back a Portuguese wife who he kept in seclusion and left in Africa on his third trip. After a while, Jermyn’s eccentricity turned to mania, and he was committed in 1765.

  Observations on Several Parts of Africa tells of Jermyn’s discovery of a prehistoric white civilization within the Congo, its ruined city, and the survivals which inhabit it.

  (Delta Green: Denied to the Enemy, Detwiller; “Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family”, Lovecraft (O).)

  OCCULT FOUNDATION, THE

  Book published in the late 1980s by the eminent occultist J. Cornelius Wassermann. Wasserman describes his beliefs on the “Primal Ones” and their eventual goals as they relate to humanity. The books sold well in the darker occult circles, but several other groups banned its author from their meetings.

  The book contains much information about the Great Dying, how this will be brought about, and the benefits that will accrue to the Primal Ones’ worshipers when this event occurs.

  See Liber Damnatus. (The House of the Toad, Tierney; “The Price”, Tierney (O).)

  OCCULTUS

  Book written by Hieriarchus around 150 AD.

  (“The Secret in the Tomb”, Bloch (O); Keeper’s Compendium, Herber.)

  OF EVILL SORCERIES DONE IN NEW-ENGLAND OF DAEMONS IN NO HUMAN SHAPE

  Anonymous pamphlet printed in colonial times that may be a section of a larger work by Alijah Hoadley. It deals with reputed sorcerers and mysterious events in New England, especially the case of Richard Billington of Dunwich, Massachusetts. Stories of the same events might also be found in Cotton Mathers’ Magnalia Christi Americana, though each author highlights different details.

  [In the fragment which Derleth incorporated into “Lurker”, Lovecraft mentioned “Of Evill Sorceries” as being part of Thaumaturgical Prodigies in the New-English Canaan. Derleth removed this reference, separating the two works.]

  See Hoadley, Abijah. (“The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft (O); “Acute Spiritual Fear”, Price; “The Round Tower”, Price.)

  O’KHYMER

  Town in Oregon (Oklahoma, according to one source) near the South Umpqua River. It is home to the University of Nyingtove. Its buildings are incredibly dilapidated, and few people are visible on the streets.

  (“The Deep-Lord Awakens”, Ambuehl; “Feast with a Few Strangers”, Berglund (O); “The Feaster from the Stars”, Berglund.)

  OLATHOE

  Capital city of Lomar. This town’s buildings were all of marble, and the images of men with beards adorned the peaks of pillars set throughout the city. Olathoë was a center for culture and learning, until the Inutos came from over the mountains and destroyed the people of Lomar.

  See Lomar; Noton and Kadiphonek. (“Polaris”, Lovecraft (O).)

  OLD ONES

  Term often applied to the Great Old Ones, or the Elder Things. Some say that they are an entirely different type of being which contact humans through possession, but so little is known of them that making this distinction may be impossible.

  [Lovecraft used the term “Old Ones” to mean, at different times, a group of beings associated with Yog-Sothoth, the people of K’n-yan, the Antarctic aliens known as the Elder Things, beings whose magic warded off the Deep Ones, and the Great Old Ones. The two definitions given above are the most popular ones.]

  See Black Brotherhood; Book of Eibon; Broken Columns of Geph; Brotherhood of the Beast; Elder Gods; Elder Things; Great White Space; Nyarlathotep; Quy; Rhan-Tegoth; stars are right, the; Yaddith-Gho; Zkauba. (Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft; “The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O); “The Horror in the Museum”, Lovecraft and Heald; “The Shadow over Innsmouth”, Lovecraft; “The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop.)

  OLMSTEAD, ROBERT MARTIN (1906?–?)

  College student from Toledo who was instrumental in bringing about the government raid on Innsmouth. Olmstead, a junior at Oberlin College, visited this town on July 15, 1927. Following a harrowing experience with the townsfolk, he fled the town and convinced the government to begin an investigation of the town. In 1930, Olmstead and a cousin who had been committed to an asylum both vanished, and it is believed that agents from Innsmouth spirited him away.

  [Lovecraft never mentions the name “Olmstead” in his story, but it does turn up in his notes. Derleth used the name “Williamson” for this character, but “Williamson” was the maiden name of HPL’s character’s mother. The only time the name has appeared in fiction, to my knowledge, is in the Sargent story.]

  See Allen, Zadok. (Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes; “Discarded Draught: The Shadow over Innsmouth”, Lovecraft (O); “Live Bait”, Sargent.)

  ON THE SENDING OUT OF THE SOUL

  Pamphlet which appeared in Salem in 1783 and which circulates secretly through the occult community. The author’s name was never discovered, but this document was involved in a series of murders immediately after its publication. It is now so rare that very few booksellers will acknowledge that it exists at all.

  On the Sending Out of the Soul is only eight pages long. The first seven contain only vague mystical language, but the eighth contains a formula for astral travel. One who uses this spell will be successful, but will also contact Hydra at the same time.

  (“Hydra”, Kuttner (O).)

  OORN

  Great Old One who dwells in the ruins of Sarkomand. It is said to be the mate of the moon-god Mnomquah, who will come to earth to join Oorn when it breaks free of its lunar prison.

  See Mnomquah; Sarkomand. (Mad Moon of Dreams, Lumley (O).)

  OOTH-NARGAI

  Valley in the Dreamlands in which King Kuranes constructed the timeless city of Celephaïs.

  See Aran; Celephaïs; Serranian. (“Celephaïs”, Lovecraft (O).)

  ORDER OF THE SWORD OF SAINT JEROME (also BROTHERS OF SAINT JEROME?)

  Organized created by the Catholic Church to battle supernatural threats, including the Cthulhu Mythos.

  Pope Clement V founded the Order in 1303, at the request of the French king who required help in revealing the corrupt
ion of the Knights Templar. It might be that this was the consolidation of a previously-existing organization of the same name, but the records are not clear on this topic. The order received its name because of its chief asset: a collection of books left to the Vatican Library by Saint Jerome, a fourth-century scholar and Biblical commentator. The Order was successful in discrediting the Templars, obtaining a number of the knights’ books for their library. After the Order’s head, Renaldo Sinibaldo, went insane and was executed in 1315, the group restricted access to these books save in extreme cases.

  The Order had a few other modest successes, including the capture and execution of Ludwig Prinn, and many of their number joined the Inquisition without that body’s knowledge of their other affiliation. The Order was disbanded at the orders of Pope Leo XIII, but it works on in secret from a monastery in the Alps, with other regional headquarters in cities such as Arkham. Its members are recruited from within the Church, often becoming wandering priests, dedicated to fighting Darkness wherever it may be found.