Colossi

The Colossi are the monsters of ancient myth, things terrible and indescribable which came out of the Void and destroyed the harmony of Titanis and Ladon. Scholars hotly dispute the nature of the Colossi, with several competing theories:
The most common is that they are the gods of other worlds, quite unlike Aiaos. Those who subscribe to this theory are divided as to whether they are exiles, banished for unknown crimes; the gods of worlds long dead; or the Primeval Gods who long ago left their own worlds as the four left Aiaos.
Others suggest that they are the remnants of entire worlds that have otherwise been consumed by the Void, broken down and corrupted in their death throes. Another theory is that the Colossi were spawned by some spiteful intelligence, envious of Aiaos' perfection.
The Church of the Eightfold Way teaches that they were created from the Void in response to the corruption of the Titans and the Dragons, and that their coming allowed the unnatural horrors of arcane Magic to further disrupt the harmony of the world.
Most cultures recognise them as horrors from beyond the bounds of creation which made war upon the work of The Primeval Gods and almost destroyed it, although a handful of sages believe that they are those Primeval Gods, returned to judge their own creation.
Whatever their origin, the Colossi are beings of clear intelligence and intent, but unable or unwilling to enter into any kind of communication with the inhabitants of Aiaos. They appear to actively intend harm to Aiaos, but are also destructive by nature. Something in their very existence disrupts the fabric of Aiaosian reality. The presence of the Colossi, or even their servants, the equally alien Outerfolk, disrupts the flow of energy, corrodes matter, fractures reason, and even interferes with the action of time and gravity.
They did battle with the Titans and were defeated, but in the course of the war two of the sky cities of Titanis – Astraea and Aenion – were destroyed. So many Titans were slain that they were unable to recover, and the harmony of the world was irreparably disrupted. Most of the Colossi were destroyed, their corpses falling to pollute The Abyss and the foundations of creation, but a few survive, either in the Void or in the World still. Their touch continues to corrupt creation, and can warp the minds of living creatures, inspiring the creation of cults.

Colossi of the Void

The greatest surviving colossi dwell in the void, projecting aspects into The Firmament. They appear in legend and superstition as the Evil Stars, celestial objects of ill omen. Cultists revere them in rites which range from the prosaic to the obscene, occasionally being moved to perform acts in their masters' name, the nature and purpose of which they might not understand, but which further the goal of the Colossi of the Void to finally reach the World and descend upon it in a second Colossus War.

Colossi of the Abyss

During the Colossus War, many colossi were slain and their bodies cast into the Abyss, where they festered into the pits where the demons have their courts. The essence of these colossi linger in the Abyss as tutelary deities of the monstrous and demonic.

• Zandahar the Lambent Coil, foundation of Olukthi, the Pit of the Mortal Masque
• Marahn the Shattered Gleaming, foundation of Shuhkthi, the Pit of the Spawning Pool
• Taxoloth the Consuming Whole, foundation of Rashalkthi, the Crucible of Malice
• Axarn the False Truth, foundation of Alathkthi, the Hanging Cages
• Gharagan the Unfixed Point, foundation of Lahakthi, the Crawling Caverns
• Obrex the Vile Purity, foundation of Omrakthi, the Sombre Maw
• XXyryz the Unborn Child, foundation of Matrakthi, the Tenebrous Womb
• Kalashar the Obsequeous Spine, foundation of Undahkthi, the Bone Cathedral
• Zarakoth the Eternal Now, foundation of Fahrakthi, the Iron Cage

Colossi of Aiaos

A handful of lesser colossi remain in Aiaos, where they act as generals of the outerfolk and liaisons of the greater colossi to their dome-bound kin – if kin is a term that can apply to such beings. Always lesser in power, and much reduced since the Colossus War, they dwell in hiding, buried deep and cocooned within pockets of warped and ravaged space-time in the darkenings of the Underhollows.

• Anaxos, the Insatiable Roar
• Calyx, the Twisted Never
• Braxys, the Burning Schism
• Rabaxas, the False Truth
• Phryxos, the Abiding Entropy
• Quixoni, the Sepulchral Knife
• Xaxzaryz, the Persistent Apathy
• Shagalath, the Unfaltering Dread
• Kolobos, the Sonorous Will
• Raxxiil, the Five-Fractured Glass

Colossus Cults

The worship of the Colossi is not something that most living beings would contemplate, but there are always those who admire force, however dreadful, or who think that they can find a way to draw power from that which destroys. Moreover, the nihilistic presence of the Colossi can speak to those who have lost all hope or become sunk in disgust toward their fellow beings. While some cultists are utterly irrational, consumed by destructive impulses, many have a veneer of clarity which allows them to evade notice and recruit others to their cause, often through exposure to nightmarish revelations of their masters' nature, which shatter the subject's understanding of the world, leaving the cult to offer a new foundation to build upon.
Colossus cults typically worship either a dead colossus whose consciousness reaches into the dreams of its members - or more often, just its priesthood - or one of the Evil Stars whose influence has touched the soul of its founding members and left a permanent scar. Very occasionally, an individual or group of individuals will stumble upon one of the surviving colossi and dedictae themselves to its service. Many such cults are very ancient, in the broadest terms, but go through cycles of development, discovery, destruction and recreation that mean that the cult of today and the founders that they sincerely emulate would in no way recognise one another.
Colossus cults are generally nihilistic, anti-establishment, violent and secretive, recruiting theough word of mouth and targeting the disaffected and angry. Their theology is based on interpretation of the nightmarish visions received by the founders and priests of the cult, less as a result of targeted communication from the colossi than from simple exposure to their works and presence. Many cults revere artefacts of the colossi which radiate such visions without conscious involvement, while cults of the evil stars can base their entire theology on a single moment of contact with a being that will never have given a single thought for the ones so affected. The bulk of the cult's purpose comes from either contact with Outerfolk in service to a living colossus, or more often from the personality and ambitions of the founders and priests who guide the cult's members.