The Elder Gods

Essay for all agents, required reading per the direction of Luminary Nicole Darkraven.

Overview
Elder God is a colloquial term we used to describe non-human entities of great power and even greater malignancy toward the human race. They may be found in documentatio and among cults with varying appelations such as Outer God, Elder Thing, Outer Thing, or by a specific name.

Despite the fact that these inhuman intelligences have and show nothing but malevolence toward the human race, aspects of their power and cruelty have long attracted human worship and adoration. Cults and evil societies in particular hope to garner their attention and curry their favor in order to obtain power or unleash their Masters, whether for hate, revenge, or just insanity.

Cults and societites often share a belief that these malign beings took up residence on Earth long before the Advent of humanity and, further, that the Elder Gods are the true and rightful rulers of the world. By assisting in establlishing an Elder God as a soverign over humanity, the cult will be catipulted to power, wealth, and/or fame. This may be a conviction born of supposed evidence gleaned by the cult, promised by the cult leader, or even provided to the cult by the entity itself.

The Darklight Society has never in its history battled an Elder God directly. Such a conflict would be futile as even with the coming of the twenty-first century, our technology, and our weapons our human methods of defense would prove inefffective; as these creatures are made up of bizarre physiological properties that do not correlate to the laws of physics as we know them.

All agents should be aware that in many instances an Elder God worshipped by a cult or society may be a complete fabrication. Cult leaders, in particular, are especially good in swaying their members with deceit, false evidence, and other such measures. Regardless, an agent should also never assume that the god being worshpped is only just a deciet because we have ample evidence, witnesses, and reliable documentation to suggest that such powerful entities do exist and pose a grave threat to humanity.

We therefore battle an Elder God with the purest and most reliable weapons and means of defense that we do possess: Cabals of Darklight agents. We strie against an Elder God by eliminating its human servants, destroying or confiscating its magical objects and relics, and bringing to a halt the machinations of its cults and its believers. The greatest weapon an Elder God has is its cult, and when we destroy the cult we weaken the god and secure humanity's continuing existence.

The Elder Gods
The following is a database of those Elder Gods we have discovered through research, conflict with cults, and study of ancient tomes and manuscripts. The list is presented alphabetically and presented with details of how the creature is typically described, the type of cult it attracts (if any), and symbols frequently associated.

Avakala  According to the Annuls of Night, Avakala was the name of a Vampire Intelligence and the master vampire it operated through in Ancient Mesopotamia. Avakala established a blood cult, convincing its followers of its power by converting two high ranking priests of the cult into vampire servants. The Elder God's master vampire and cult were destroyed by a trio of Azura-Masda priests named Inken, Biklan, and Nod. Since that time Avakala to the best of our knowledge has never returned.

Bast  The Ancient Egyptian goddess of felines and moonlight we are all familiar with. We have an astonishing amount of documentation and physical evidence in our vaults to assure us that this Elder God is a true, living, intelligence. Bast has a cult that exiss into modern times. Bast and her cult both are one of the very few Elder Gods that is not malevolent toward humanity. At best, she is indifferent, it's cats and feline welfare that concern her. It makes one wonder that if Bast is an intelligence, then the other Egyptian gods must be as well.

Chaugani  A horrible Elder God documented to have terrorized New Parva, India, during the 1920s. It sprouted a blood cult, The Deception of Ganesh, that tricked many loyal followers of the gentle and loving god Ganesh. When these worshipers were assembled the priest, actually a Chauganist, would summon the Elder God which would then brutally attack the worshipers and devour them. Chaugani was described as a gross, bloated and morbidly obese humanoid body with multiple pseudo-pods for arms and a trio of red-eyed elephant heads.

Dakta  Also known as the Emperor of Spiders, this is the Elder God worshiped by the Starry Night cult. Documentation confiscated by the cult for the members describes him as a beautiful youth with the arcane symbols of divination in one hand and knowledge in the other. However, the documentation written by Professor Enoch for the upper echelon of the cult describes this monstrosity as a duo of emaciated human torsos with numerous spider-like appendages where the heads should be. The torsos sprout from a large spider abdomen. Cult doctrine indicates that he exchanges occult knowledge and power in exchange for human sacrifices.

Hamatorii  An Elder God whom seems particularly favored by several prominent Japanese citizens of Darkness Falls, particularly in the Neo-Tokyo area of San Roque district. Always depicted as a ten foot tall blue-skinned oni with four arms, its body covered in eyes. We haven't yet learned of any instances where this Elder God was called upon to materialize in our world so may be a fabrication. Investigation is still ongoing.

He Who Comes In The Dark  A horrible Elder God depicted as a large protean mass studded with human, octopi, and goatish eyes. The Elder God is evoked as a creature of revenge, sending an avatar of itself to ooze over, smother, and ultimately devour the target of the summoner. According to the lore we've discovered about He Who Comes In The Dark it is exceptionally dangerous to evoke because if the mage makes so much as one minor error during the invocation the God will come after the summoner once he has finished with the victim.

He-Whom-Walks-On-Dust  As found in the Enkraphic Tenets, written by our illustrious founder, He-Who-Walks-On-Dust appears as a bloated oval mass standing erect on three animal-like legs. At the top of the body mass the creature possesses several mouths. The uppermost portion of the mass breaks off into countless tentacles. This Elder God was worshiped by Nubian slaves, whom frequently sacrificed Egyptian children to it. The worship and sacrifices made by the Nubians may have been a symbolic means of exacting revenge for their forced labor.

Him  We first became aware of the existence of this Elder God while exploring the Nightward, part of the Pale. The locals were absolutely terrified of this Lovecraftian monstrosity, describing it as a huge protoplasmic mass which constantly produces eyes, mouths, and psudeopods. Him is believed to be the progenitor of the monstrosities called Black Judges. Him has a cult, the Whisper of Him, currently active in both Raven's Grove and Darkness Falls. Please see the appropriate cult listing.

Iod  A cold and terrible Elder God associated with disease and worshiped by the cult called the Malignancy of Iod. (q.v.) The Elder God is described as a human torso the size of a house crawling with diseased pustules and boils. It pulls itself along on two arms. Where the head should be it becomes a black protean mass that sprouts eyes, mouths, and tentacles or feelers as needed.

Orpheus  An Elder God and Mythos God worshiped by the Orphean Society. They believe him to be a denizen of Dreamland and can make his purest worshipers immortal by bringing them into the realm for all eternity. So far, there is no evidence at all to suggest Orpheus actually exists.

The Crawling One  A particularly revolting and vile Elder God adulated by a small cult that we mostly eradicated in the Seventies, but still occasionally crops up in Raven's Grove. The Crawling One's true form has never been described, but its avatar is depicted as a humanoid form made up entirely of earthworms, maggots, leeches, and flatworms. In exchange for extremely brutal human sacrifices: victims are physically tortured and beaten to death as the god relishes and feeds on pain; The Crawling One promises deep secrets of black Magick. Agents are given open permission to kill Crawling One priests and followers on sight. They offer no mercy, and neither do we.

The Eater of Children  First mentioned in the Nakotic Manuscripts(see Black Library entry), this Elder God is adored via the ritualistic murder of prepubescents. For each child sacrificed to it, the Eater of Children promises to teach its followers how to travel safely through The Pale. The creature is described as having a canine like body, the rear of which is formed of screaming infant faces and the front of which terminates in many tendrils that end in a red eye. It frequently makes appearances to it's cult followers through an avatar described as a legless human torso holding itself upright on two spindly arms. Where the head should be are instead seven wolf heads. Worshipers usually identify themselves by carrying a small bronze idol of a wolf head. The Eater of Children is said to favor particularly loyal followers by giving them access to and control over a small back of horrific looking wolf-like spirits.

The Petaled Lady  The Lady is the Elder God of the Southern Rose, please see that cult for more information and read the special report filed about her.

Yatis  Identified in an 18th-century document as being worshiped during the time that Rome flourished. It is ascribed among the gods of divination. Yatis is shown in paintings as something like a crab with a toad's head that sports a single eye, tentacles where the legs should be, and a reptilian tail. A line in the document states that Yatis is as big as a castle.

Yig  Yig, also worshiped as The Father of Serpents, King of the Scaled Ones, and Overlord of Snakes is an Elder God whose worship so far is open to those of Mexican or Mezo-American nationality. It is usually described as having a sixty foot long serpent body studded with eyes. One end of the body mass terminates in countless elongated mouths, flailing arms, and whipping tendrils. Its cult, the Children of Yig, is one of the bigger cults located in California, Arizona, and New Mexico but doesn't appear to be malicious toward humanity; rather, it's a belief system that honors the snake and views it as a protector, guardian, and healer. Cultists can be easily identified by the cult mandate that the worshiper mark himself with snake and serpent motif tattooing.