Mythos of the Cosmic Horrors

[Overview compiled by Tokuomiru Hoshin-chi, Sage-Director of Occult Investigations]

The Old Ones. Eldritch Horrors. Many-Angled-Ones. Horrors Beyond the Veil.

These are but a small sample of names that we mortals call these unfathomable entities. Wherever they pass, whatever their influence touches, life goes wrong. Minds break. Flesh warps. Acts so depraved and unthinkable are committed without hesitation. And yet, they seemingly pay no attention to us, as we would pay no attention dust in the air. They make no effort to communicate with us, and even if they did, it would be so incomprehensible so as to break your mind. We have no concept of their purpose or what they want. They consume, but have no need for sustenance. They corrupt, but do nothing to exploit it. They are god-like, yet have no need for worshipers and ig ore those that do.

What we do know, albeit with plenty of room for doubt and alternate theories, is that they are utterly alien from our reality. Not just alien from the Middle Realm, but from the entirety of Creation itself.

History

We believe that it were the sserassin empires that drew their attention to our reality. Drunk with power, and craving more, the serpentfolk committed vile rituals to summon them. A prominent theory is that their sages gleaned the knowledge to do so from whispers uttered by the udug-hul, the hateful denizens of the Infinite Abyss who utterly abhor Creation. The sserassin thought the forbidden knowledge they could gain from the Horrors would grant them mastery over Creation. Instead, they ushered the era that would name the 2nd Age as the Age of Horrors.

With that first breach, the Horrors swarmed reality. Although our gods fought back, and cosmic war consumed the universe, the dominion of the Horrors had fallen over our reality. It is practically impossible to know how this lasted. Historical records in any form, at least those that could provide concrete dates, failed to survive the devastation that ensued. Even cosmological dating prove fruitless as entire stars had been moved or winked out of existence from the cosmic conflict. Our current estimates range from a hundred htousand years to over a million.

Fortunately for all of reality, the Creators were able to bring an end to the Horrors' dominance. It was a lengthy and costly battle, but the Creators, alongside their mortal champions, succeeding in ejecting the Horrors from our reality, but at great cost. Sacrificing much of their divinity, the Creators drew the Veil upon our reality, cutting off the Horrors' connection to their alien dimension. For once, it were the Horrors that were now vulnerable.

Gods and mortals hunted down the remaining Horrors, left adrift in our reality like flailing appendages cut loose. They were still an apocalyptic threat, and defeating them was costly. But even then, they remained a threat. Many were wear reduced to vestiges within the collective memory of the people, yet carried on their influence. Others could only be sealed away in cosmic prisons with the fear that they could somehow find their way out of. And the Creators, who influence once reach every ends of the cosmos, found themselves reduced to presiding over a single world.

Though another cataclysmic event soon followed (see The Morning Rebellion), our reality could now be assured that a future still existed for us.

The Horrors of Celesia

Seven Horrors have been confirmed to have influence on our world, either having been sealed in our cosmological location, or whose memory remains active among cultists. These seven are:

There have been at least two events in recorded history that involved the awakening of one of these Horrors. One was the destruction of the Xian continent and its empire by Zol-goa'thul in 4167 2A. The Horror was beaten back into the depths by the kaiju king Azgorah. The other event was the unleashing of Xin'carlath who was only stopped by the Avatar of the Lightbringer battling alongside another appearance of Azgorah.

Other Horrors

Zarathulos

Knownonly through mentions in ancient incantations to the Old Ones, Zarathulos is thought to be the progenitor of all the cosmic horrors. 'Zarathulos' is likely not its true name, the truth capable of driving mortals mad even just thinking of it. Clues glimpsed from cryptic texts and the nightmares of the insane infer that he sleeps at the center of the Outer Void, and that all of reality as we know it, ourselves, and even our gods, are nothing dreams of his, and when he wakes, our existence simply ends. Even if this blasphemous idea is not true, Zarathulos is said to be such an entity that even the ripple caused by its very thoughts could shape reality, and that its waking could wipe out reality regardless. It is fortunate and frightening that Zarathulos is ignorant of all things, and its mind too vast and alien to comprehend.

Zarathulos does have a cult among mortals, but it is small and replete with madmen, for only the insane would worship an entity found only in brief mentions, that ignores their prayers, and is not even aware of their existence. However, somehow, they manage to steal some of his power, but each time they do, they make him stir, and the consequences cannot be fathomed. Their ultimate goal is wake him, and bring about the absolute end of all things.

The Void Singers

There exists secret cults that worship one or many of the Horrors. Collectively, they are known as the Void Singers. Some worship them as gods. Others seek alien knowledge from them. All are ignored by the entity they worship, and are driven mad by them. They operate in deep secrecy and under many guises, and their existence is revealed only after tragedy occurs.

The Golden Vizier

Very few individuals merit their own section, but the Golden Vizier is one of them. We do not know where or when he came from, but we do know he was active in Xian for its last millenia of existence. The Golden Vizier was a human man of great knowledge and charisma. Although he never placed himself at the centre of attention, he appears multiple times as the close advisor of those who do. The highest magi of Xian sought his counsel. However, it is believed only after the fact that the Vizier was quietly and slowly manipulating the magi of Xian toward their own doom.

It was our very own founder, the Argent Sage, the led the opposition against the Vizier and who did the most investigating into his origin and nature. Our founder believed that the Vizier was an agent of the Cosmic Horrors, one whose existence bridged the gap between our reality and the alien one from which the Horrors originate, a sort of interface between to existences so alien from each other. The Vizier's motives were still unclear like his masters, but whatever they were, the Vizier seemed mortal enough to spread the Horrors' will in ways in which we mortals could understand. We believe that much of the mythos lore we know of came from his teachings.

The Vizier's ties to the Cosmic Horrors could not be made more clear when it was his plan and advice that released the Dreamer in the Depths onto Xian and sunk the island continent. The only victory to be had in that calamity was that our founder and his companion the Lady of Stars confronted the Vizier. Through their combined sacrifice were both Zol-goa'thul and the Vizier sealed away, at the cost of our Society losing its two leading figures. Sadly, there are been reports throughtout history since then of a man matching the Vizier's appearance and methods seducing learned individual with secrets from the Old Ones. Our only saving grace is that whatever our fiunders did to him has reduced the Vizier to making only brief appearances with limited influence before disappearing for centuries on end.

The Mythos

Lore surrounding the cosmic horrors is collectively know as 'the mythos'. The following are known mythos tomes that deal with such forbidden knowledge.

These have passed into Argent Rose hands and subsequently lost multiple times, and are considered to have the highest priority to be quarantined. It should go without saying that perusing any of these tomes should be taken only by the most hardened and steadfast minds, with the utmost caution and precautions taken. Notify mind healer teams to be on stand by. And be aware that by reading just a line from these accursed works damns you to their attention!

The Thul-Koon

The thul-koon are a species of giant, intelligent worms with psychic powers. They are believed to be the spawn of the cosmic horrors after they entered our reality. They are obsessed with their supposed progenitors, and had ruled over mortals in their name. After the ejection of the Horrors, their civilizations were wiped out, with the survivors being driven deep down into the Deep Hollows.

During the height of their influence, the thul-koon preyed upon the peoples of the Middle Realm. They used us as food, as experiments, as sacrifices in rituals to their mad overlords. So widespread and nightmarish were their depravity that they entered into our collective consciousness as one of the primal fears (the others being the reptilian sserassin and the arachnoid neraxians). Despite being driven deep underground, they still plot and spread their influence to us mortals, working towards the day they can bring back their Old Gods.

Ing-gol'zha

Ing-gol'zha is the name of a rumoured city created by the thul-koon as their ultimate tribute to the Cosmic Horrors of Celesia. It is the culmination of all of their lore and sciences, and if successfully activated, could have permanently rooted the Horror's tendrils into our world and reality. Fortunately, they failed to complete the act in time before they were brought down. However, the city was never found, though hints and clues could be fiund scattered in a variety of mythos lore.