Kht'oth (KEL; /xthˈoθ/)

"̵̺͌K̶̝̺̤͌e̸̦̋̾͒ ̷̱͚̎͒s̵̢̝͐ḫ̶̊͑l̷̖̣͆ḛ̷̢͚͆͗̌ȓ̴͍̚ʼ̶̝̤̊̿l̴̡̥̻͘ ̷̮̲̲͌̓̉ş̸̹̃̒͝ͅe̶͙̋͘h̸͔͒s̷̺̙̤͐h̶̫̻́͑̋ ̴̨̕g̸̞̓̈́͝ľ̸ͅi̷̤̾̄͠ ̵̨̟̟̽̀n̴̡̪͒̓͝ʼ̴̫̅̎̏g̵̲͘͝h̶̩̥͝a̸͕̍̽ȉ̴̖ ̴̧͈̲̎͒w̵͉̳͌͜g̸̠̱͇̎ʼ̶̱̄́̌ū̴͎̙.̴̤̳̅͠.̵̰̞̥̕.̵̡̆"

— Kht'oth, the Emperor of a Thousand Colors

Kht'oth is the elder god of Light, Spectrum, Energy, Movement, and Precipices. The most powerful present being on Aanrah, Kht'oth is withdrawn and largely uninvolved in the world after the death of his consort Ryniai† and his son Shlel†.

Description

Appearance

Kht'oth most commonly appears as a large humanoid skeleton with four arms made of a opaline substance with bismuth growths, usually draped in gossamer-like cloth and jewelry. His body shines in every known color and many unknown - looking upon his form induces severe headaches for most onlookers, who have the distinct sense of trying to perceive things they simply cannot. His right eye socket is usually covered by a large bismuth growth, and the left socket's eye usually is a ultraviolet point of light.
Kht'oth's true form is, simply, light itself. Though its intensity, density, and shape can vary, Kht'oth is light itself, making it potentially nigh impossible to determine what is and is not him if he does not wish to be perceived.

Personality

Kht'oth is incredibly fickle, and very easily angered and displeased. Though once just considered uncaring and aloof, the death of his consort and son have left Kht'oth's patience with Aanrah nightmarishly thin. While Kht'oth already was not one to be attached to the world and did not have any interest in keeping any sort of deep ties with Aanrah, Ryniai's death has made Kht'oth deeply, deeply bitter and temperamental. He is considered to be largely withdrawn from Aanrah, keeping only a few thin connections and threads to it, but those who do manage to encounter him find him to be terrifyingly fast to snap, a very harsh judge, and a relentless force with nothing to lose. While most gods even wave their hands at his departure, a few deities like Zwinwèlè know that Kht'oth is one hairpin trigger away from potentially either engulfing Aanrah in a terrible heat, or plunging it into absolute darkness.

Powers & Domain

Kht'oth has the power over light and energy itself. While most associate him with just light and color, and may dismiss him for it, he holds the reigns to some of the most vital aspects of the physical reality. He has a perfect control over movement and energy, and can use it to terrifying lengths for both creation and utter destruction. The Sea of Glass is a incredibly restrained use of his power - a large expanse of terrain that was flash boiled up to four miles below the surface. In addition to his control over light, energy, and motion, he has the ability to manipulate precipices, allowing him to move the edge of reactions and events to bring them closer or further to their original points.
Though his ability does allow him to bring things to a absolute stop or absolute zero, he actively avoids it - it is unclear if it is because he struggles to control things on that end of the scale, or if its because this overlaps with the domains of the Hegemone.

History

The early history of Kht'oth his unknown - he rarely is known to discuss his past prior to Aanrah with anyone, including other elder gods. That said, it is known that he existed well before Aanrah's creation, likely by some very sizable margin, and seems to have had a hand in the creation of at least one other world - if not more. Aanrah is, at very least, not the first world he's been involved in to some degree, and his knowledge of other planes of existence and other worlds inhabited with intelligent species is wide.
Kht'oth is thought to be one of the first beings to arrive to the location that would become Aanrah - and though there is debate between scholars and even deities, Kht'oth is indeed the first to have found the well of power that would become Aanrah. Though he wanted to consume it himself, he was eventually convinced by Eynthúr with the Nuríians and Talatarael with the Xeith to allow a world to be created from the power instead of hoarding it all to himself. He was offered the chance to become Aanrah's sun initially, but declined, having no interest in tying himself that tightly to any given place. Instead, Kht'oth pulled away and largely played little to no part in Aanrah's creation outside of offering advice and expertise to the much less experienced First Gods. Historically, he is rarely mentioned in texts and legends regarding Aanrah's conception, and is only mentioned in passing, giving him the appearance of having had very little to do with Aanrah at all.
(WIP) At some point in Aanrah's early history (Pre-Break era), Kht'oth fell in love with a Ordthay slave named Ryniai who was to be sacrificed to him, and instead spared her and made her his high priestess. The two went on to have the only recorded instance of a n'ghftu producing a offspring - Shlel†. Eventually, Ryniai and Shlel were slain in a chance raid on their city, and Kht'oth fell into a rage and despair when he was unable to retrieve their souls from Evermore. In his rage, he created the Sea of Glass and largely withdrew from the world.
In modern days, Kht'oth is rarely involved - he lingers at the edge of Aanrah's reality, but since Ryniai's death he has even less interest in Aanrah then he originally did, only allowing it to exist at her last request.

Religion & Dogma

Fhaith Cult

Kht'oth represents the strongest power capable of being summoned through the so-called Fhaith cult - the n'ghftu cult centered on energy itself. Kht'oth has no hand in his cult - instead, that role falls to Kht'oth's two subordinates, Lalhai and Fhlelw'lw'. Those seeking eldritch powers from this branch of the n'ghftu cults usually find themselves unable to reach further then Lalhai and Fhlelw'lw', though Kht'oth and his role as the actual apex of the Fhaith cult and n'ghftu 'house' are far from a secret. Kht'oth has no interest or care what his subordinate n'ghftu decide on in regards to Aanrah, and has no interest himself in interacting with mortals.
That said, there are still a few fragments of knowledge regarding how to reach Kht'oth that exist in the world. These scraps are held onto tightly and with great secrecy by those who have them, and are some of the most closely guarded pieces of information on Aanrah. Those who dare to follow their instructions rarely are met with anything but disaster - Kht'oth is incredibly short-tempered and fickle, and usually the mere act of daring to call upon his consciousness is enough to anger him. Most who attempt to summon him are reduced to slag - along with the surrounding vicinity, and any scrap of information they might have been holding regarding Kht'oth. But those who are able not to immediately infuriate the elder god and, more impressively, make an exchange with him will find themselves with unparalleled knowledge and power over aspects of Kht'oth's domains. The handful of individuals who have gained Kht'oth's favor have been some of the most feared wizards in existence, capable of channeling incredible amounts of energy with ease and capable of manipulating certain boundaries of reality as it's known.

Artifacts, Etc.

• Opalescent Glass - Glass pulled from the Sea of Glass itself, opalescent glass appears as sheets of a semi-translucent, glass-like material that is usually a green-teal in color with a rainbow shimmer to its surface. Cursed thanks to the event in which crated it, opalescent glass, despite looking otherwise inert, will burn and melt through the flesh of any sort of living or animate being. It is sometimes collected and forged, both through great effort, into particularly nasty weapons - though those who use them are known to slowly begin to fall apart themselves in a fashion not too dissimilar to high radiation exposure.
• Prism Bead - A small, glass-like bead made from a material akin to opalescent glass. Said to be given to a wizard by Kht'oth from a piece of his jewelry, this bead is said to serve as a small but powerful focus for the manipulation of light, energy, movement, and precipices. It's current location is unknown.

Relationships

Extra

• The word kht'oth means lightning in K'elhithen, but it does not seem that Kht'oth is named for the word. It is unknown if the word for lightning, instead, is named after Kht'oth.