Shantak

Shantaks are a fictional species created by H. P. Lovecraft in his Dreamlands novel The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. Lovecraft depicts them as a flying bird-like creature larger than elephants, with heads resembling those of horses. They have scales rather than feathers, and lay eggs of colossal size and rich flavor. They are allied with Nyarlathotep, and fear the Night-gaunt minions of Nodens.
Lovecraft describes the Shantaks' speech as "tittering tones that rasped like the scratching of ground glass".
In the short story "The Gable Window", August Derleth presents a different image of the shantak via the notes of Wilbur Akeley: "Average height exceeding that of a man. Furred, bat-like bodies, bat wings, extending three feet above head. Face beaked, vulture-like, but otherwise resembling bat."
Derleth lists the Shantaks as one of the servitor races of the Great Old Ones (: "The Keeper of the Key"), and claims that they "flew from Kadath in the Cold Waste at the bidding of Wind-Walker, the Wendigo, cousin of Ithaqua" (: "The Seal of R'lyeh").
Lin Carter portrayed the Shantaks and the Fishers from Outside as being the same species (: "The Fishers from Outside"), although other media, such as the role-playing game Call of Cthulhu, maintain that they are distinct. In Carter's works, the Shantaks / Fishers from Outside are led by Quumyagga, and are loyal to Groth-Golka.
==Gallery==
Shantak 2 (Edition Sans Detour).jpg|Shantak, by Loïc Muzy (Call of Cthulhu, French version)
Shantak (Edition Sans Detour).jpg|Shantak (Call of Cthulhu, French version)
Shantak (Paizo).jpg|Shantak (Pathfinder)
Shantak.jpg|Shantak, by Michael Bukowski
85 Shantak.png|Ryuga Boumera's interpretation of a Shantak 
Shantak elder.jpg|Shantak (Elder Sign)
File:Export202211231730213980.png|MrMeowser's drawing of a Shantak
File:Shantak (Nyaruko, Crawling with Love).jpg|Shantak (Haiyore! Nyaruko-san)
Category:Species Originating From Lovecraft Circle Works
Category:Non-Sapient Species
Category:Extra-Dimensional Species
Category:Servitor Races