Cthothlast
The Forbidden Librarian, The Endless, Grasping Keeper, Blireninashiance, the Thistle Baron (a.k.a. Calathon Lasttome)
Cthothlast, also known as the Forbidden Librarian, the Endless Grasping Keeper, the Demon of Knowledge, the Many Eyes in Many Tomes and the Archivist, is the Travesty, representing Forbidden Knowledge, Black Magic, and memory. Cthothlast is said to be born when the first memory was formed; one of the first murder, and grows in power with every memory thought into existence.
Cthothlast, although an uncommon Travesty to worship in the same way of other deities, is one of the more widely encountered Travesty, and it is said by some that all those who seek immortality by way of magic, such as Lichdom , Artificery and deific ascension, will eventually need to contend with Cthothlast, as he is the ultimate barrier for entry with this forbidden magic.
Cthothlast is a being of wisdom, with and jovial conversation. He is one of the few to willingly collaborate with mortals, if only for artistic expression, but it is vital to remember that Cthothlast is still a Travesty, and a mortal life is worth nothing to the Endless, Grasping Keeper. While he might find the conversation amusing for a while, a mortal with any kind of wisdom would flee in terror at even the mention of his name, lest Cthothlast discovers your existence and becomes interested in learning all the knowledge you hide in your skull, even if he has to tear it out of you.
Divine Domains
While Cthothlast's main domain are black magic, knowledge and learning, he is also considered to oversee Magic, Mind, Greed, Depth, Planning, Words and Ravens.
Artifacts
Cthothlast has many eldritch artifacts, many of which are dark tomes of infinite power. Some of the more notable include:
- The Nine Lost Symphonies of Horton Fogmeadow, a songbook containing nine symphonies forged from the emotions of Horton Fogmeadow, a Halfling Bard.
- Tome of Crawling Depths, a spellbook dictated to Cthothlast by his ally, Retch. Cthothlast is said to keep the original copy of this tome as a keepsake of their friendship, and that he will return the Tome to Retch once the dead god has been resurrected.
- Tome of the Stilled Tongue. A mystical spellbook written by a necromantic deity in a realm far from Apa Axas, it was rebound by Vernack the Twisted to create the School of Eldritch Horror.
- Book of the Grief Eater. A mysterious tome said to be able to restore the dead to life, however, it can wrought much destruction if used haphazardly.
- The three Crystal Balls (The Crystal Ball of Mind Reading, The Crystal Ball of Telepathy and The Crystal Ball of True Seeing) used by Cthothlast as his personal heirlooms.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Cthothlast appears to have no set form, preferring instead to appear as "a stream of dark dreams and the truest of falsehoods, lined with peering orbs and whipping tendrils" according to Hake Locksteed's novel, The Curse of the Ninth. However, he was witnessed in the early days as a Wood Elven noble known as Blireninashiance, or the Thistle Baron.
To The High Elven Pantheon, he is known as Calathon Lasttome, and takes the form of an impossibly old Elven man wearing a robe of eyes and runes, and his tongue dripping with poisoned ink.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
The history of Cthothlast is mostly unknown, as, due to his more passive nature, in which he observes rather than acts, he does not tend to interact with mortals directly. Instead, he will often appear through proxies, bizarre constructs that consist of hollowed out corpses containing creatures of thought, encased in a bizarre structure of arches and rings, while their skin bluges with many eyes and tentacles.
Cthothlast’s great library, The Endless Archive, contains every piece of knowledge that was, is and will be, throughout all of time and through every realm. His library is even said to contain tomes that have been lost forever, discarded before they were finished, or if they haven’t even been written yet. This last factor is said to have been the origin of Lichdom, stolen by Shubb'Ki from Cthothlast’s archives, although the Demon of Knowledge has been quoted to find the concept of Lichdom unsavoury, during his conversation with Bok Tippytap. What’s more, it’s said that Cthothlast can access all of this information on a whim, and has even been known to flood a creature’s mind with so much knowledge that their own soul is annihilated through the effort. However, Cthothlast tends to prefer to keep his subject’s souls in tact, as every page in every book in his vast, infinite library is flayed from a mortal soul, usually one of those sacrificed or sold to him, and he carves the script of his heinous texts into their soul-skin with the spite only a madman can muster. Gaining these souls seems to be a priority for Cthothlast, and, in tales featuring the Demon of Knowledge, he has cavorted with Devils making deals for information, usually in exchange for souls for his press.
Social
Contacts & Relations
Cthothlast, despite his bookish nature and love of order, seems to be one of the more social Travesties, and, in tales depicting the Forbidden Librarian, he seems to have relationships that could even be considered friendship with both Beacons and Travesties, including Kal Crist, Shubb'Ki and Gloom Mona. How or why he achieved this is unknown, as he seems to prefer solitude more than other Travesties, in particular Beheerous, who Cthothlast is said to find “a tedious drone”. Cthothlast also seems to be the least hostile of the Travesties, at least towards his followers deities, and seems to actively avoid conflict between deities, and has even acted as a mediator between them at times. This was witnessed by the poet Gorti, although, due to the difficult-to-translate Bugbear language, it is uncertain whether Gorti described Cthothlast as the Travesties’ leader, parent, mediator or sandwich, although it is unlikely to be the latter.
Cthothlast seems to have a unique relationship with Beholders , although notably, he did not create them. He is, however, said to have granted the Beholders their unique dreaming ability as an insult towards Drelux, who had successfully hidden a secret from him. Beholders by nature punch through Drelux’s Wall of Sleep as if it were made of tissue, releasing Far Realm energies onto Apa Axas through their nightmares. This is thought to be the origin of the earliest Aberrant Mind Sorcerers. Cthothlast has also been reported to use Beholders as his emissaries in dealing which mortals, although they are known for being terrible at delivering messages, often murdering the message’s recipient on sight.
While difficult, Cthothlast can be summoned by mortals, utilising The Rite of Fogmeadow, a bizarre ritual that requires playing a forbidden tune through a woodwind instrument, carved from the still-living flesh of a Treant.
Relationships
Divine Classification
Travesty
Religions
Alignment
True Neutral
Current Location
Species
Realm
Spouses
Siblings
Children
Sex
Non-specific
Eyes
Varies, usually many green eyes
Hair
None
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Varies
Height
Varies
Weight
Varies
Aligned Organization
Related Myths
Comments