Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia

by Harms, Daniel

  One sage has hypothesized that the hounds are unable to enter our three dimensions, and anyone who is not traveling through time is safe from their depredations. Cases of hound attack, however, show that this is not the case. It may be that the hounds can only indirectly affect this dimension, which makes them no less of a threat.

  Analysis of the blue slime left after Hound attacks reveal that the Hounds have no enzymes within their bodies. Enzymes are helpful in that they speed chemical reactions, yet their presence eventually causes a being to die. Not only are the hounds masters of time travel, they seem to be immortal as well; whether or not this means that hounds cannot be permanently destroyed by violence or other means remains to be seen.

  The hounds are the spawn of Noth-Yidik and K’thun, and may serve Azathoth in some capacity. They serve the Lords, mighty exemplars of their species, of whom the most powerful is Mh’ithrha. They may oppose Yog-Sothoth, who represents the curves of time that repel them from our reality. Interaction of hounds with humans is limited—supposed “spells” to contact these creatures are most likely admonitions on how not to contact other realities.

  Friendly relations are rare between hounds and humans, though Romulus propitiated them while building Rome into an empire. A few hounds, known as ny’rela, serve a particular master, though these are very rare and the means for securing their service is unknown. Some have also connected them with the corpse-cult of Leng, whose symbol is the winged hound.

  See Amulet of the Hound; Einstein Formula; K’thun; London, Terry; Noth-Yidik; Scarlet Circles; Tindalos; Walters, Harvey. (“The Wild Hunt”, Ballon; “The Orb”, Campbell; “The Madness out of Time”, Carter; “The Hounds of Tindalos”, Long (O); Elysia, Lumley; The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley; S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters, Petersen; “One-Way Conversation”, Sammons.)

  HOY-DHIN CHANT. Incantation found in the Necronomicon and used by sorcerers to call the Black. The chant must be used in conjunction with other formulae found in the Cthaat Aquadingen.

  See The Black; Necronomicon (appendices); Sixth Sathlatta. (“The Horror at Oakdeene”, Lumley (O).)

  HSAN, SEVEN CRYPTICAL BOOKS OF. See Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan.

  HUITLOXOPETL. Being which is known for its control over dreams. When the Great Old Ones rebelled against the Elder Gods, Huitloxopetl remained in Syrgoth, a galaxy at the rim of the universe. His father Azathoth punished him by imprisoning him there.

  Huitloxopetl’s name appears in many medieval Arabic manuscripts, and it has been suggested that the Aztec cult of Huitzilopochtli was connected to him. Some say that vampires and the living dead serve Huitloxopetl, while others state that these are actually mindless creations controlled by the being itself.

  (“Huitloxopetl IX: Pickman’s God”, Ambuehl; “Huitloxopetl IV: Vision of Madness”, Berglund (O); “Huitloxopetl XII: Plagued by Dreams”, Cornford; “Huitloxopetl XI: The Ripening of Huitloxopetl”, Davey.)

  HUNTING HORRORS. Creatures resembling black-winged serpents of immense size. Horrors originally dwelt on only a few worlds, but they have been sighted flying through space in several galaxies. Extremely bright light may destroy a hunting horror, but such a powerful light-source is rarely available to its victims.

  The hunting horrors serve Nyarlathotep, who often sends them to deal with those who displease him. An enterprising wizard who is outside at night may summon one of these monsters, providing a sentient being as a sacrifice for it. If none is available, the horror is happy to devour the magician and depart.

  [The “hunting horrors” turn up briefly in “Dream-Quest”, but they are never described there. “Lurker” is the source for their appearance.]

  (“Mysterious Dan’s Legacy”, Baugh; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, 5th ed., Petersen and Willis; S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters, Petersen et. al.)

  HUTCHINSON, EDWARD (alias NEPHREN-KA NAI HADOTH). Gentleman of Salem-Village (present-day Danvers), Massachusetts. Edward Hutchinson was a man of some learning who had many discussions on science with both Simon Orne and Joseph Curwen. His neighbors considered him to be a wizard, a situation that may have lead to his disappearance around the time of the witch-trials. Questionable evidence suggests that he later turned up near Rakus, Transylvania, near the ruins of Castle Ferenczy. Buzrael Press of Liverpool published one of his most famous works, The Opener of the Way, in 1864. His links with the historic Nephren-Ka are unknown.

  See Curwen, Joseph; Orne, Simon. (“The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”, Lovecraft (O); S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters, Petersen et. al.)

  HYBORIAN AGE. Period between the destruction of Atlantis and the rise of civilization in Sumeria. This age is named for the Hyborian people, who fled to the north from Atlantis and later came south, sweeping all before them and founding such kingdoms as Hyperborea and Aquilonia. The Hyborians were later conquered by the Picts and annihilated. Ironically, the most famous hero of this age was neither Pict nor Hyborian, but a Cimmerian named Conan.

  [I have not provided an article on every country of the Hyborian Age, but only those which turn up regularly in other authors’ Mythos stories.]

  See Acheron; Atlantis; Book of Eibon; Book of Skelos; Cimmeria; Conan; Hastur; Koth; Kuthchemes; Lemuria; Quy; Set; Stygia; Unaussprechlichen Kulten. (“The Hyborian Age”, Howard (O).)

  HYDRA (also MOTHER HYDRA). 1) Tremendous deep one who is the mate of Dagon, as well as one of the deep ones’ gods. She has much the same form as Dagon, and is reverenced by many of the same cults that worship her husband, as well as one sect of ghouls. See Dagon; deep ones; elemental theory; Lesser Old Ones; Pth’thya-L’yi; Revelations of Glaaki. (Low Red Moon, Kiernan; “The Shadow over Innsmouth”, Lovecraft (O).)

  2) Being that appears as an endless sea of grey slime dotted with the heads of its victims. The Hydra lives in an alternate dimension, and can only interact with our own when a person travels astrally through its territory. The Hydra may follow this person to their destination, capture another person (but not the original traveler) in the material world. It bears the person’s head, and with it their consciousness, back to its astral form. See On the Sending Out of the Soul (“Hydra”, Kuttner (O).)

  HYDROPHINNAE. Book on aquatic life by a Mr. Gantley. It appears in both Latin and English, though no publication date for either edition is known. This book details a wide variety of aquatic organisms, including a species of fish-like bipedal beings.

  [The hydrophiinæ are a subfamily of venomous snakes.]

  (“The Aquarium”, Jacobi (O); “Fischbuchs”, Ross.)

  HYPERBOREA. 1) Fabled northern civilization that came to power during the Miocene Period between nineteen and twenty-five million years ago. A long-eared, fair-haired people from the south originally populated Hyperborea. These settlers first traded with, and later exterminated, the sub-human voormis who had inhabited the area before them.

  At this time in history, the northern lands were warm and fertile. Vast jungles, filled with exotic life from sabre-toothed tigers to the last remaining dinosaurs, covered much of the continent. The people of Hyperborea were cultured and learned in the arts of science and magic. Their capital, first at Commoriom and later Uzuldaroum, was a marvel to behold.

  For many years after their arrival in Hyperborea, the people of this region worshiped the toad-god Tsathoggua, as the voormis had before them. Later, the worship of this deity fell out of practice as the populace turned to more urbane deities. Soon, the worship of Tsathoggua was so uncommon that when the priests of the elk-god Yhoundeh declared an inquisition to deal with the Tsathogguan infidels, they were not opposed. Many of the black god’s congregation were killed, and others fled the persecution to the southern colony of Krannoria. Though they were initially successful, Yhoundeh’s clerics soon lost favor with the populace. The worship of Tsathoggua began a short resurgence before the end of the Hyperborean c
ivilization.

  Of the many sorcerers who dwelt in Hyperborea, two are of especial note. The first, Zon Mezzamalech, who lived upon the northern peninsula of Mhu Thulan, is barely mentioned by the ancient texts despite his great feats. The second, Eibon, gained himself more renown. Though his exploits and astral journeys of this wizard are matters of legend, he is better known for penning the Book of Eibon. Sadly, Yhoundeh’s inquisitors cut short Eibon’s career, discovering that the sorcerer had made a pact with Tsathoggua. Though he was able to escape his would-be captors by magical means, Eibon was never again seen in Hyperborea.

  Near the end of the Miocene Period, glaciers rolled over the northern portions of Hyperborea. Many of the land’s lords and wizards fought to save their land from the cold, but their efforts were to no avail. After many centuries, the ice covered all of Hyperborea. The lore of the lost continent was not forgotten, however. The Atlantean high priest Klarkash-Ton recorded the myths of Tsathoggua and the rest of the Commoriom myth-cycle, and the Greeks believed that a race known as the Hyperboreans lived in a warm paradise far to the north.

  See Abhoth; Aphoom Zhah; Atlach-Nacha; Black Gods of R’lyeh; Book of Eibon; Book of Night; Commoriom; Eibon; Ghadamon; Hagarg Ryonis; Haon-Dor; Karakal; Klarkash-Ton; Knygathin Zhaum; Kythamil; Lemuria; Lobon; Mhu Thulan; Mu; Naacal; Nug and Yeb; Parchments of Pnom; Pnakotic Manuscripts; Ptetholites; Rlim Shaikorth; Satampra Zeiros; Sfatlicllp; Shub-Niggurath; Silver Key; Tamash; Testament of Carnamagos; Tsath-yo; Tsathoggua; Ubbo-Sathla; Uzuldaroum; voormis; Voormithadreth; Yhoundeh; Zo-Kalar; Zylac. (Return to Dunwich, Herber; “The Trail of Tsathogghua (sic)”, Herber; Selected Letters III, Lovecraft; “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft; “The Door to Saturn”, Smith; “The Ice-Demon”, Smith; “The Last Incantation”, Smith; “The Seven Geases”, Smith; “The Tale of Satampra Zeiros”, Smith (O); “Ubbo-Sathla”, Smith.)

  2) Two thousand years after Atlantis sunk, another kingdom named Hyperborea occupied the area around the present-day Gulf of Finland. A group of nomadic Hyborian tribesmen, who settled down there to build their great stone cities, became the founders of this new Hyperborea. (“The Hyborian Age”, Howard (O).)

  [In Greek myth, Hyperborea was a land to the north whose people lived in a mild clime and worshiped Apollo, god of the sun and music. Madame Blavatsky later placed Hyperborea in a previous age of earth before Atlantis and Lemuria, a model picked up by the early Mythos writers. In his letters Lovecraft sometimes drew parallels between Smith’s Hyperborea and his own Lomar, and at other times recorded them as existing at different times.]

  HYPNOS. Greek god of sleep, and the brother of Thanatos (“Death”). Hypnos dwells in the Corona Borealis and concerns himself little with mortals. If a person does attract his attention in some unguessable way, Hypnos sends down a beam of red-gold light from his starry home to that person. The beam pulls the victim back to Hypnos, who may leave some token of this visitation behind. The god may only be hurt by objects and individuals who are dreaming.

  [Lin Carter stated that he was unable to find any Greek god named Hypnos, but one exists all the same. Hypnos lived in a cave near the river Lethe and could put both gods and humans to sleep effortlessly. The other material above is Lovecraft’s invention.]

  See Byatis; Crystallizer of Dreams. (“Hypnos”, Lovecraft.)

  HZIULQUOIGMNZHAH (also ZIULQUAZ-MANZAH). Son of Cxaxukluth and the paternal uncle of Tsathoggua. He resembles his nephew to some degree, save for his head being at the lower end of his body. After a brief sojourn on Yuggoth, Hziulquoigmnzhah left for Yaksh, where he was annoyed by the religious worship practiced by that world’s curious inhabitants. A short while later, he journeyed to Saturn, where he now lives in a cavern, emerging to drink at a nearby lake and warn off passerby.

  See Cxaxukluth; Cykranosh; Ghisguth. (“The Door to Saturn”, Smith (O); “The Family Tree of the Gods”, Smith; “The Contemplative God”, Tierney; “The Throne of Achamoth”, Tierney and Price.)

  I

  IÄ. Word often used in rituals to the Great Old Ones and Outer Gods. It literally means, “I hunger!” in the original Aklo, and may be linked to the cry of “IAO!” made by the worshipers of Dionysus.

  (“No Pain, No Gain”, Adams, Isinwyll, and Manui; “The Last Test”, Lovecraft (O).)

  IAGSAT. Lesser avatar of Yog-Sothoth, known primarily for an exorcism for him in the Book of Eibon.

  (Selected Letters IV, Lovecraft (O); “The Exorcism of Iagsat”, Pulver.)

  IAK SAKKAK. See Yog-Sothoth.

  IB. City of grey stone which once stood within the land of Mnar by the lake of Thune. Ib’s people were strange frog-like beings known as the Thuum-ha. In this city, which had existed for centuries before discovered by humans, these beings from the moon propitiated Bokrug the water-lizard with curious rituals. The humans living in the nearby city of Sarnath felt uneasy about their neighbors and blamed the disappearance of their children upon them. In the end, Sarnath rose up and slaughtered the amphibians, bringing about their own doom centuries later. Some claim that the Sumerians used magical gates to travel back in time to this city.

  See Bokrug; Brick Cylinders of Kadatheron; Ilarnek Papyri; Lh-Yib; Mnar; Sarnath; Thuum’ha. (“The Book of Dismissals”, Carter; “The Doom that Came to Sarnath”, Lovecraft (O); Prey, Masterton.)

  IBIGIB. Title of a book supposedly containing references to the invocation of supernatural forces. The British Museum once held a copy of this book.

  (“The Caller of the Black”, Lumley (O).)

  IBN GHAZI. Arabian wizard credited with inventing the Powder of Ibn Ghazi. Alhazred mentions that Ibn Ghazi once perceived the end of humanity, but the gods denied him any knowledge of what he saw. For his daring, his mouth was sewn shut, his tongue severed, his head cut off, and he was turned over to the shoggoths of the Vaults of Zin as a slave.

  (The R’lyeh Text, Turner, ed. (O).)

  IBN SCHACABAO. Heretical Arab scholar, sheik, and author of two books—Reflections, and another with no known title—which Alhazred quotes in his Necronomicon.

  Ibn Schacabao claimed to have obtained a great deal of esoteric knowledge from his conversations with the djinn. His critics referred to him as the “Boaster”, for his outlandish claims regarding the symbols on the tomb of Cthulhu and a mysterious “wisdom seat” in the Garden of Eden. He is believed to have been one of the teachers of Abdul Alhazred. Legend has it that he died with a prayer to the Old Ones on his lips.

  Like Alhazred, Ibn Schacabao’s name has no meaning in Arabic and is likely a corruption made by non-Arabic scribes. Possible derivations include Ibn Muschacab (“Son of the Dweller”), Ibn Shayk Abol (“Son of the Sheik Abol”), or a derivative of the word shakhabh (“bestiality”, signifying his unnatural origin).

  See Reflections. (“The Plain of Sound”, Campbell; The Necronomicon, Culp; “The Festival”, Lovecraft (O); The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “A Critical Commentary on the Necronomicon”, Price; Necronomicon, Tyson.)

  IDH-YAA. Monstrosity from the double star Xoth who is referred to in the Ponape Scripture as Cthulhu’s mate. The Great Old Ones Zoth-Ommog, Ghatanothoa, and Ythogtha came from the mating of Idh-yaa and Cthulhu. The ancient texts do not tell whether Idh-yaa came to earth with its “husband.”

  See Cthulhu; Cthylla; Ghatanothoa; Xoth; Ythogtha. (“Out of the Ages”, Carter.)

  ILARNEK. Dreamlands city on the river Ai in the land of Mnar. Ilarnek is near to the former site of Sarnath, and its high temple holds the statue of Bokrug that was found after Sarnath’s destruction.

  See Bokrug; Ilarnek Papyri; Mnar. (“The Doom that Came to Sarnath”, Lovecraft (O).)

  ILARNEK PAPYRI. Manuscript found only at the British Museum that originates from Ilarnek in the land of Mnar. It tells the history of the two cities, Ib and Sarnath, and also mentions that humanity originated in the far north.

  See Ilarnek. (“The Book of Dismissals”, Carter; “The Doom that Came to Sarnath”, Lovecraft (O); Beneath the Moors, Lumley.)

&nb
sp; ILEK-VAD. City of the Dreamlands. Ilek-Vad stands on glass cliffs above a sea in which the Gnorri live. Its many high turrets and domes beneath a red star are famous throughout the lands of dream. Ilek-Vad’s king, who sits upon an opal throne, travels once a year to a temple in Kiran on the river Oukranos to pay respects to the gods of his youth. The dreamer Randolph Carter may have become the king of this city following his disappearance.

  See Carter, Randolph; Gnorri; Kiran; Marigny, Etienne-Laurent. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Silver Key”, Lovecraft (O); “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price.)

  ILYTH’LA. Female being created by Cthulhu and Nyarlathotep who founded their cults among humans. Many cultists, according to the Sussex Manuscript, consider themselves to be her children, and she is often equated with the Hebrew demon Lilith.

  See Virklyu. (A Guide to the Cthulhu Cult, Pelton; The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton (O).)

  IN PRESSURED PLACES. Hartrack’s book of undersea horror.

  (“De Marigny’s Clock”, Lumley (O).)

  INCENSE OF ZKAUBA. See Zkauba.

  INGANOK (or INQUANOK). Onyx city on the northern shore of the Dreamlands’ Cerenerian Sea. This city trades mostly in onyx mined in quarries further inland. On a hill in the city’s center stands the Temple of the Elder Ones, which only the temple’s priests and the Veiled King of Inganok himself are permitted to enter. Inganok is a very pleasant city, but its proximity to the Plateau of Leng keeps most travelers away.