Local Eldritch Horror

Table of Contents

A very powerful Eldritch Horror whose ancient territory spread over what is now our country. We have to keep sacrificing people to It to keep It asleep, but even so, It is always finding cracks in the defences of Its prison, threatening to slip away and destroy the whole country.

Eldritch Horrors

The Eldritch Horrors are extremely ancient being of unfathomable power, even pre-dating the gods themselves—by some account, they were even the first gods, and the ruins of temples built to worship them occasionally resurface. I t never ends well...
Contrary to our gods, the horrors were wild and chaotic, and their proximity was not propice to any other kind of life forms. When our gods came into existence as young magical-rich and slightly more stable and sane entities, they made a tempting snack for the Horrors. Nobody should ever say this out loud, but it's clear the Horrors are much more powerful than the gods. Thankfully the situation forced the gods to band together to defend themselves. The only time in history they put their petty quarrels aside!
After some long and fierce fighting, the gods proved partially successful. While they could not completely destroy the Horrors, they manage to imprison Them all deep underground in special buildings, and to rope us mortals into conducting rituals to keep Them asleep. While from time to time an Horror manages to slip through the crack of Its prison, none have fully gotten away. So far.

Our own Horrors

In our country, we have two Eldritch Horrors: one that is kept in the Eternal Fires after its escape attempt, thus sparing us from the need to feed it, and another one that is unfortunately located very close to our capital. Eldritch Horrors do not have names, of course—or at least, all traces of them have been destroyed, as invoking them would be a sure way to provide them with a gateway from their prisons. To prevent us all from dying horribly, we affectionally refer to ours as our cute local Horror.
According to our oldest records, this Horror specialises in ice magic, and having their power takes effect in a desert is a truly unnatural and unsettling event. In ancient time, they held the life of everyone in the region in the bend of their tentacle. Only fierce worships and human sacrifices were able to soothe them—rituals apparently can be used to simply enhance the flavour of the flesh, making them much better than when caught "in the wild".

The Prison

Thankfully for us, when our water god and forging god were born, they joined their power to counteract this ice and vanquish the Horror, while our architecture god built a prison in which to bind It. The three gods then seized the lands the Horror had claimed as Its and founded our capital—a city-state at the time.
Since then, the gods have been vigilent and have carefully watched over the Horror. Nevertheless, despite all their efforts, It has been difficult to keep asleep. It keeps reaching out in Its dream, corrupting the mind of any mortals It comes in contact with. It never makes any promises, never even communicates clearly, yet everyone always ends up with the urge to go to the doors of Its cell, unseal them, and throw themselves in the chasm where the Horror resides, sacrificing themselves in a different kind of ritual.
It's only a question of time before It manages to find enough purchase in mortals' mind to escape. Then, It will undoubtedly takes its revenge on the unfaithful mortals who now worship Its vanquishers.
And to not help matters, the gods themselves have been having strange ideas about stealing the powers of the Horrors from It. Could they have themselves fall under Its influence?

Opinion from the Archives

All Horrors are terrible, but this one still manages to stand out among them all. Rather than choose a land that would enhance Its power, It went for the opposite and still managed to come out on top for far too long. According to the oldest records in the archives, there was snow in the middle of the desert! Such an unnatural state for water to be in, and a true miracle than anyone managed to survive its proximity without being shredded from the inside!
Thankfully, the Horror is down for now. Yet, it's especially worrying that it took the whole of our local gods' council banding together to vie with It, and that it still takes the whole of them to keep It imprisoned. With how quarrelsome the gods are, it is too easy for the Horror to exploit their distraction. So far we were lucky and able to stop It in time, but it only takes one time...
We're currently overdue another attempt, and the priests of the Feeding Halls have just reported a surge of strange dream. We better make the next feeding ritual extra tasty.

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Related articles

The gods

Gods The Water God Lydien · The forging god · The architecture god · The War God · The trade god · The sun god Q · The God of plants · Local Eldritch Horror Politics Local Gods' Council · The Gods' Rules · Royal Heir · Cult of the water god · Cult of the Forging God Appeasing the gods Gods' views of mortals · How to appease gods through prayers and sacrifices · The director instruments channelling prayer magic · The Brand · Mortal Possession · Mark of A God's Disfavour or the Divine Curse · Eldritch Horror Feeding Ritual · Picture Book: The Tale of the Eldritch Horrors Cult Culture The Archivists · Divine portraits · The godly calendar · High Priests' Lockets · The Water God's Gifts · The forging god's alchemy · The Story of the Trees of the Water Temples Locations The capital, a city blessed—and cursed—by the gods · The royal archives · Dry Season Retreat in the Temple Complexes · Feeding Halls for Eldritch Horror · The Eternal Fires · Old Temple to an Eldritch Horror · The war god's lost city