Soggoth

## Soggoth The Puppetmaster

Soggoth (SO-goth), dubbed *The Puppetmaster*, is a Dark Elder being from the darkest depths of the void.

Soggoth was summoned into Pangaia by the Mogh'ra Council; better known as the Pale Council, they consisted of nine Varonian Prime Elves that practiced the dark arts, a school of magic forbidden by almost all Elven cultures that included evoking demonic spirits, blood rituals and uses of sacrifice.

While exploring new and satanic communions, the Mogh'ra made contact with Soggoth. They communed for many months and after Soggoth had demonstrated his vast powers; The Mogh'ra wished to help summon him into the world. They tricked and manipulated the Varonar High Council into constructing a citadel that they believed to serve as a shrine to their deities, but was in fact a vessel for the dark lord.

Once complete, Soggoth was summoned; his fleshy body fused atop the towering spire that cast a shadow over Varonar's dense forests and surrounding cities. Once the rest of the High Council became corrupt and bent to Soggoth's will, the entirety of the Varonian elves soon followed. Within days, Soggoth had full control over the Varonian elves.

## The Pale War

The Varonian Elves, stripped of their conscience and blood drained from their bodies in rituals to their new god, became known as the Pale Elves to reflect their withered and dead appearance.

The Chita, a race of spotted feline humanoids who once shared the forests of Varonar with the Elves, where mostly wiped out by the new order of Pale Elves. The remaining few that survived migrated due west to the land of Gehennok to warn the Gehennohan Elves of the coming of the Pale Elves.

Although once enemies, the Chita and the Gehennohan teamed up. Word was sent to the other Elven kingdoms in the Heartlands and Ediacara. Armies from each travelled south to Gehennok and helped fortify the land against Soggoth's forces.

The war originated on the border of Varonar and Gehennok. The more blood that was spilt, the more powerful Soggoth grew. He slew the king of the Tiranian Elves; Eldin Val'renar, but was not so successful when he came face-to-face with the mighty Arcaius, Guardian of Life, who managed to mortally wound Soggoth after a long duel, forcing him to retreat into the depths of the ocean, but only after afflicting Arcaius with the Curse of Doubt.

The war was won; the majority of the Pale Elves where annihilated and Soggoth eventually faded back into the void. He was presumed dead by all. The Chita signed a peace treaty with the other Prime Elves in the event that Soggoth would return and they moved back to Varonar and occupied the ruins of the Pale Empire to rebuild their civilisation under the rule of Felen Sunmane.

## The Guardians & Soggoth's Influence

Soggoth would return in the future to ignite the Dark Age, only to be defeated yet again and locked away by the Avatars of Apollas and Hephastus on Urozond, the island that was once a small part of the region of Varonar when it was apart of the super-continent Cimmera.

Soggoth was imprisoned so he could never fade back to the void to regenerate. The throne itself that once powered Soggoth became his tomb and was cast down into the underworld by the combined powers of the two guardians. Apollas, despite being successful, received a fatal wound from Soggoth before his victory which killed him several days later.

Even though Soggoth was sealed away, his influence continued to affect those on the surface world.

Soggoth is responsible for the corruption of the Council of Tyl after he communed with them in an attempt to raise a new Pale Empire; causing them to ruin the Sanctum of Stars and ultimately lead to the destruction of Tyl.

Diros the Devourer was born in the fires of the Searing Maw, where Hellraiser's activities took place. During his many encounters Diros complains of whisperings in his head. It is believed Diros was contacted, or *infested* by Soggoth's influence.

It is known that it was Diros that awoke the dragons of Algaz and unified them with the Ogres so that dark magics could be shared between the two races, hence setting the entire expansion in motion. It could be possible this was all part of Soggoth's plan if it was these 'whispers' that told Diros to do this. When killed in the Siege of Trysfel, Diros says "Free from his grasp... at last...". If Soggoth truly does play a part in this, it is unknown what his intentions are.

It is possible Soggoth may be somehow related to or alligned with Yroggon, another dark being, due to their similar themes and abilities such as whispering and manipulation.

## In Game

Players that were able to experience the heroic version of the Headmaster Hellraiser encounter would get the chance to see Soggoth for the first and only time yet in the game, as he stands in the background towering over the battlefield with "strings" from his fingertips attached to the limbs of Hellraiser, suggesting that Soggoth was controlling him the entire time.

## The Creator's Doubt

During the Pale War, Soggoth was defeated by Arcaius. It is not known what took place, except that Soggoth and Arcaius fought one another in a battle that went on for many days and nights, and although Arcaius defeated the Puppetmaster, Soggoth claimed to have "won the battle" by afflicting Arcaius with a curse.

The curse, which was Doubt, would slowly grow more powerful within him as time went on, until he is fully consumed. Sure enough, players are forced to fight Arcaius in the present day because he doubts the very existence of mortals and wants to unmake the world and is defeated.

After his battle with Arcaius during the Pale War, Soggoth retreated to the depths of the ocean to recover and was not seen or heard of again for thousands of years. It is believed he died, but being a Dark Elder was able to resurrect himself and restart his life cycle.

Eventually, the god Apollas - one of the guardians of Pangaia, noticed the dark transformation of Urozond and cured it using a song composed of six symphonies. Infuriated, Soggoth revealed himself to Apollas. The two beings dueled one another on the east coast of Alminheim. Apollas was successful in defeating *and* imprisoning Soggoth, but at the cost of his own life.