Elder Key (Stone Tablet)

The Elder Keys, a.k.a. the Tablets of the Gods or the Elder Records, are fictional artefacts in the Cthulhu Mythos. They are described as stone tablets that hold tremendous power.
==Description==
The Elder Key, or Elder Keys as referred to in later stories, are ultratelluric tablets on which powerful incantations are inscribed by the Elder Gods. One of these incantations brought our world into this universe from the plane of the Elder Gods. They are the reason why the Great Old Ones sought to take over the Earth, so that the Keys' knowledge can be used to defeat the Elder Gods. (: "The Unbegotten Source")
It has been suggested that the Elder Keys are identical to the Tablet of Destinies in Mesopotamian mythology (: "From the Journals of Alexander Hale, Ph. D.: The Tablets of Destiny").
The tablets contain part of an incantation that can summon Iod (: "The Hunt").
==In the Mythos==
The Elder Keys were stolen from the Elder Gods, and their knowledge imparted to Ubbo-Sathla and Azathoth. With its power, Ubbo-Sathla brought the Earth to this universe, while Azathoth fled from the Gods also by entering this universe but was then defeated. For the theft of the Elder Keys, Ubbo-Sathla was bereft of wit and reason by the Gods. It stays in Y'qaa to preserve the tablets to this day (: "The Unbegotten Source").
Only two copies of the Keys are reputed to exist on Earth, but are almost inaccessible. One is in the great library of Baltimore occultist Kenneth Scott (: "Hydra").
Will Benson used the tablets to summon Iod (: "The Hunt").
==Behind the Mythos==
These tablets were created by Clark Ashton Smith for his Mythos story "Ubbo-Sathla", where they are known as the "tablets of the gods". The name Elder Key was first used by Henry Kuttner.
In "The Horror in the Gallery" and "The Descent into the Abyss", Lin Carter refers to them as the Elder Records, as the term Elder Key is used for a sigil instead. Carter would later refer to the stone tablets as the Elder Keys in "The Unbegotten Source".
Category:Artefacts Originating From Lovecraft Circle Works
Category:Mythos Books (fictional)