Cthulhu

Tulu, Clulu, Clooloo, Cthulu, Cthullu, C'thulhu, Cighulu, Cathulu, C'thlu, Kathulu, Kutulu, Kulu, Kthulhu, Q'thulu, K'tulu, Kthulhut, Kulhu, Kutunluu, Ktulu, Cuitiliú, Thu Thu, Xululú, Cthulhutl, Cutlu, Shooloo, Thooloo, Ka-Thoo-Loo, Kuthullhoo, Kuthoolhew, Hlu-Hlu, Khulu, Chullao, Khlul-Hliu, Tu-Lu, Tako-ika, Nagji-ojingo, High Priest of the Great Old Ones, the Great Dreamer, the Sleeper of R'lyeh, the Star Spawn, Him Who Lies Dreaming, Him Who Will Rise Again, Him Who is to Come, Lord of the Watery Abyss, the Sleeping God

### Associations

Anarchy, apocalypse, art, astrology, the breaking of bonds, cold, conspiracy, death, deep ones, disaster, distortion, dreaming, dreams, enlightenment, falling, freedom, grease, immortality, imprisonment, Innsmouth, insanity, interpretation, the insignificance of humanity, liberation, madness, mi-go, oblivion, ocean depths, psychic powers, revelry, R'lyeh, rot, the sea, slumber, the stars, star-spawn of Cthulhu, supernovae, violence, wildness, worship, Xoth

### Relatives

Azathoth (great-great-grandfather); Yog-Sothoth (grandfather); Shub-Niggurath (grandmother); Nug (parent); Hastur the Unspeakable (half-brother); Ghatanothoa (offspring); Ythogtha (offspring); Zoth-Ommog (offspring); Cthylla (offspring); T'ith (offspring); Kthanid (brother); Cthaeghya (half-sister); Hnarqu (brother); Kassogtha (sister); Nctosa (offspring); Nctolhu (offspring); Leviathan (offspring); Mordiggian (offspring)

### Common Blessings

**Sprout Tentacles:** from face or body (costing 5 magic points), granting extra attacks (1d4+damage bonus damage) and a Sanity roll (0/1d6 loss).**Hear Dreams:** able to read the dreams of others (2 magic points per target) and discern their meaning (possibly granting insights into what the target is thinking or will do next).

> In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.
>
> Howard Phillips Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu

Cthulhu is a Great Old One of great power who lies in a death-like slumber beneath the Pacific Ocean in his sunken city of R'lyeh. He remains a dominant presence in the eldritch dealings on our world.

Great Cthulhu came down to Earth from Xoth with its star-spawn some 350 million years ago, establishing the hideous city of R’lyeh and other less well-known sites. Elder thing records, seen in Antarctica, show the race warring with Cthulhu’s star-spawn and winning some form of victory, although the records being written by elder things may be somewhat biased. 50 million years later, cataclysmic events ~ said to have been instigated by Elder Gods ~ led to the sinking of R’lyeh and the imprisonment of Cthulhu and many of the star-spawn. Prophecy foretells that Great Cthulhu shall break free of its elder bonds when R’lyeh rises again, heralding the time “when the stars are right” and humanity shall become like the Old Ones. For now, Cthulhu lies dead but dreaming in the corpse city of R’lyeh, a nightmare place of alien construction that is best left undiscovered by humanity.

Despite being “dead” in conventional terms, Cthulhu dreams. From time to time, such dreams are powerful enough to transmit ideas and concepts to receptive human individuals. Indeed, throughout human history, there appears to have been times when Cthulhu’s “deep sleep” has become fitful or akin to “near wakefulness,” with its psychic emanations seemingly growing temporarily more powerful and affecting larger cross-sections of human society around the world. While there is no definitive record of such periods, Mythos scholars studying Earth’s history have suggested certain events as being caused fully or in part by Cthulhu’s will, including the “great dying” of 251,000,000 BCE (the extinction of 96 percent of earthly life) and the year 536 CE, when a great cold swept across the world, a mysterious fog covered the Middle East and Asia, and thousands of humans died. It should be noted that, in 1919, the influential mystic known only as Madame May wrote a cryptic prophecy concerning the year 1925 and describing a “madness from the sea” that would “cause strange thoughts and turn the mild toward blind violence.” The sudden disappearance of Madame May after writing this, the last entry in her journal, means that no further information as to what she was driving at can be given.

Being touched by Cthulhu’s dreams causes humans to act in diverse ways. For some, vague images of R’lyeh and Cthulhu plague their dreams and waking hours, driving them to create art as a way to interpret or divine meaning. Others suffering from a temporary madness, are provoked into performing indiscriminate violent acts. Some may hear Cthulhu’s dream-thoughts more clearly and, in their comprehension, fall utterly insane and descend into babbling incoherencies, while others find a truth in their insanity and, able to function within society, go on to seek out others like themselves or form their own cults devoted to Cthulhu.

Certain tomes, perhaps the foremost of which is the *Necronomicon*, describe Great Cthulhu as a “high priest” who will somehow play a major role in the breaking of the elder wards that appear to bind and imprison numerous Old Ones and their like. Such writing suggests that Cthulhu’s waking will cause such ripples on the tides of the cosmos as to destroy any remaining wards; a great magical wave crashing through both physical and metaphorical walls, not only freeing Cthulhu and its spawn-kin but also the other trapped Old Ones. Thus, whether by the act itself or through the enactment of some grand rite never before seen, Cthulhu shall change the world and the cosmos as we know it. Credence should be given to these writings, as even the short periods of temporary wakefulness on Cthulhu’s part have given immediate rise to strange occurrences and effects on a global scale. Who knows the power and scale of such effects when Cthulhu is fully awake, amplifying a global influence into a cosmic one?

> I have found numerous representations of Cthulhu, each fashioned by hands whose minds were touched by some aspect of the Sleeper and, consequently, each differs by degrees. Some depict a monstrous amorphous bulk while others suggest a vaguely anthropoid outline, although all share a grand corpulence. All seem to feature an octopean head, with a “face” nothing more than a mass of feelers or tentacles surmounted by six or eight eyes. The body mass usually is crafted to appear rubbery or rugose, with some idols detailing curious growth or warts, and possessing prodigious claws or hands on hind and fore feet. Again, common to all is a pair of long and narrow wings rising from the back. I dread to think of the influence that could bear down on one who possessed just one of these idols, for my mere temporary contact during my research has led to fitful sleep and the most awful of nightmares.
>
>

## Description

The most detailed descriptions of Cthulhu are based on statues of the creature. One, constructed by an artist after a series of baleful dreams, is said to have yielded simultaneous pictures of an octopus, a dragon, and a human caricature. A pulpy, tentacled head surmounted a grotesque and scaly body with rudimentary wings. Another, recovered by police from a raid on a murderous cult, represented a monster of vaguely anthropoid outline, but with an octopus-like head whose face was a mass of feelers, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and fore feet, and long, narrow wings behind.

When the creature finally appears, it does so as a green, sticky spawn of the stars, with flabby claws and an awful squid-head with writhing feelers. Johansen's phrase "a mountain walked or stumbled" gives a sense of the creature's scale. This is corroborated by Wilcox's dreams, which "touched wildly on a gigantic thing 'miles high' which walked or lumbered about".

Castro, a Cthulhu cultist, reports that the Great Old Ones are telepathic and know all that is occurring in the universe. They were able to communicate with the first humans by moulding their dreams, thus establishing the Cthulhu Cult, but after R'lyeh had sunk beneath the waves, the deep waters, full of the one primal mystery through which not even thought can pass, had cut off the spectral intercourse.

> That is not dead which can eternal lie.
> And with strange aeons even death may die.
>
> Abdul al-Hazred, The Call of Cthulhu

## Worshippers

It is unknown how large the throng of those who worship the dreaded Cthulhu is, but his cult has many cells around the globe. The cult is noted for chanting its horrid phrase or ritual: "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn," which translates as "In his house at R'lyeh dead C'thulhu waits dreaming." This is often shortened to "Cthulhu fhtagn," which might possibly mean "Cthulhu waits," "Cthulhu dreams," or "Cthulhu waits dreaming."

Cthulhu has a worldwide cult centred in Arabia, with followers in regions as far-flung as Greenland and Louisiana.

There are leaders of the cult in the mountains of China who are said to be immortal. Cthulhu is described by some of these cultists as the great priest of the Great Old Ones who lived ages before there were any men, and who came to the young world out of the sky.

Cthulhu is also worshiped by the nonhuman creatures known as deep ones.

The human Cthulhu Cult appears to be the most widespread and insidious cult devoted to the worship of the Old Ones. The cult believes they will play a hand in the reawakening of Great Cthulhu, an action that shall bless them and remake them in Cthulhu’s image; thus, the cult works to prepare and bring about the “Great Waking.”

The cult is directed by a secretive cabal of elders sometimes known as the “Deathless Masters,” although the term “Undying Masters” is also connected to this group. These leaders are, in the main, disconnected from the active cult members, and only deign to make an appearance or (more likely) send word to a cult leader when absolutely necessary. As such, they remain an enigma and, other than their apparent immortality, little is known about them. Indeed, some suggest the title is an honorific, passed down the generations, rather than a group of actual immortals. What we know comes from low-ranking cult members, which is often guesswork or just plain false. For example, some Cthulhu devotees have called the Deathless Masters the “Deathless ~~Chinamen~~,” a term that is probably intended as obfuscation, as Cthulhu’s influence spans the world, and evidence suggests that this cabal is comprised of both men and women who hold domains in the Americas and Europe, as well as Asia. Thus, the conspiracy is built upon lies and misinformation intended to misdirect those who would seek to learn about the cult. Nothing a cultist says should be taken at face value.

Putting the Masters aside, the cult appears to operate in a cell-like structure, with each group effectively working on their own cognizance, without ties to others. In practice, the heads of such groups often referred to as High Priests or Priestesses by the rank and file members, often have connections to one another and are able to pass information as needed, although there does seem to be an unwritten rule that each cult head operates and creates their own remit in terms of day to day activity. Sometimes, such heads will war with one another in an ongoing battle for supremacy, perhaps arising from the notion that privilege and rank only come to those that seize it. Throughout history, different Cthulhu cults have risen and fallen, sometimes supplanted and absorbed by stronger groups. Evidence for these groups has been found in the USA, Greenland, Canada, England, and Greece, but these are just the ones that have come to notoriety ~ there are many more. In remote areas, whole communities or tribes may be Cthulhu worshippers, unaware they are a cog in the grand mechanism of Cthulhu’s dreams.

Of course, most members of the Cthulhu Cult are not aware they are part of an organization spanning the world. Many “members” only see the group they are a part of, believing that “they” alone will be the ones to inherit Cthulhu’s blessing. Others don’t even realize there is a cult, as they are individuals who have been touched by Cthulhu’s dreams. Such individuals may receive “knowledge” of Cthulhu via the entity’s dreams or are possibly influenced magically or otherwise by a nearby cult leader. Those actually touched by Cthulhu may act in a solo fashion to further Cthulhu’s agenda or could recruit others by sharing the “good news” and forming their own sect, cabal, or cult. Nothing is simple with this cult: it has many arms, hands, and heads, sometimes working in unison but mostly in ignorance of one another.

Some cult groups have close connections to the deep ones, who can be viewed as the largest non-human cult devoted to Cthulhu. These often include deep one hybrids within their members, who act as go-betweens with the deep ones. For obvious reasons, these groups tend to be located in coastal areas. Whether the deep ones have links to the Deathless Masters is unknown, although the possibility seems quite likely.

Finally, anyone (cultist or otherwise) receiving Cthulhu’s dream messages will interpret them according to their beliefs and outlook. Some may receive vague impressions they associate with folklore or other human-centered beliefs, while others see deeper and access a clearer “Cthulhu-shaped” message. In terms of cultists, they must interpret their messages like any other human, often foisting their own predilections when garnering a meaning. Only the Undying Masters seem able to fully comprehend Cthulhu’s thoughts.

> They were not composed altogether of flesh and blood. They had shape [...] but that shape was not made of matter. When the stars were right, They could plunge from world to world through the sky; but when the stars were wrong, They could not live. But although They no longer lived, They would never really die. They all lay in stone houses in Their great city of R'lyeh, preserved by the spells of mighty Cthulhu for a glorious resurrection when the stars and the earth might once more be ready for Them.
>
> Castro, speaking on the nature of the Great Old Ones, The Call of Cthulhu

## History

Cthulhu is mentioned in other sources, sometimes described in ways that appear to contradict information given the most well-known accounts. For example, rather than including Cthulhu among the Great Old Ones, a quotation from the *Necronomicon* says of the Old Ones, "Great Cthulhu is Their cousin, yet can it spy Them only dimly."

Human explorers in Antarctica recently discovered an ancient city, where the Old Ones are described as a species of extraterrestrials, also known as elder things, who were at war with Cthulhu and his relatives or allies. The discoverers of the Elder Things were able to puzzle out a history from sculptural records:

> With the upheaval of new land in the South Pacific tremendous events began [...] Another race–a land race of beings shaped like octopi and probably corresponding to the fabulous pre-human spawn of Cthulhu–soon began filtering down from cosmic infinity and precipitated a monstrous war which for a time drove the Old Ones wholly back to the sea [...] Later peace was made, and the new lands were given to the Cthulhu spawn whilst the Old Ones held the sea and the older lands [...] [T]he antarctic remained the centre of the Old Ones' civilization, and all the discoverable cities built there by the Cthulhu spawn were blotted out. Then suddenly the lands of the Pacific sank again, taking with them the frightful stone city of R'lyeh and all the cosmic octopi, so that the Old Ones were once again supreme on the planet.
>
> Howard Phillips Lovecraft, "At the Mountains of Madness"

William Dyer, part of the Antarctic expedition, also notes that "the Cthulhu spawn [...] seem to have been composed of matter more widely different from that which we know than was the substance of the Antarctic Old Ones. They were able to undergo transformations and reintegrations impossible for their adversaries, and seem therefore to have originally come from even remoter gulfs of cosmic space [...] The first sources of the other beings can only be guessed at with bated breath." He notes, however, that "the Old Ones might have invented a cosmic framework to account for their occasional defeats." Other stories have the Elder Things' enemies repeat this cosmic framework.

In another account, there is a reference to "the fearful myths antedating the coming of man to the earth ~ the Yog-Sothoth and Cthulhu cycles ~ which are hinted at in the *Necronomicon*." That suggests that Cthulhu is one of the entities worshiped by the alien mi-go race, and repeats the elder things' claim that the mi-go share his unknown material compositions. Cthulhu's advent is also connected by this account, in some unknown fashion, with supernovae (or possibly metaphorical stars, such as major historical figures): "I learned whence Cthulhu first came, and why half the great temporary stars of history had flared forth." The account mentions in passing that some humans call the mi-Go "the old ones".

Investigations into the cult activity in Innsmouth, Massachusetts has revealed that Cthulhu is also worshiped by the nonhuman creatures known as deep ones.

> When the stars have come right for the Great Old Ones, "some force from outside must serve to liberate their bodies. The spells that preserved Them intact likewise prevented them from making an initial move."
>
> Castro, speaking on the Cthulhu Cult, The Call of Cthulhu

## Family

With the revelation of writing detailing his relations, we have learned that Cthulhu descends from Yog-Sothoth, possibly having been born on Vhoorl, in the 23rd Nebula. He mated with Idh-yaa on the planet Xoth. His offspring by that pairing are Ghatanothoa, Ythogtha, Zoth-Ommog, and Cthylla.

### Family tree

Cthulhu's parent is the deity Nug, itself the offspring of Yog-Sothoth and Shub-Niggurath.

> [At the proper time,] the secret priests would take great Cthulhu from his tomb to revive His subjects and resume his rule of earth [...] Then mankind would have become as the Great Old Ones; free and wild and beyond good and evil, with laws and morals thrown aside and all men shouting and killing and revelling in joy. Then the liberated Old Ones would teach them new ways to shout and kill and revel and enjoy themselves, and all the earth would flame with a holocaust of ecstasy and freedom.
>
> Castro, "The Call of Cthulhu"

## Name

The pronunciation of Cthulhu is often given as Khlûl'-hloo, although some have pointed out, however, that different writers have given several differing pronunciations on different occasions.

> the first syllable [of Khlûl'-hloo is] pronounced gutturally and very thickly. The u is about like that in full; and the first syllable is not unlike klul in sound, hence the h represents the guttural thickness.
>
> Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Selected Letters V

All such transciptions, however, merely the closest that the human vocal apparatus can come to reproducing the syllables of an alien language. The pronunciation kə-TH'oo-loo at some point became common.

> Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn!
>
> Popular Cthulhu chant

## Encounters

Most will encounter Cthulhu through its cult and the many groups therein. The wide diversity, differing agendas, and modes of operation mean the activities of each group varies significantly, with only the holding of ceremonial rites in honor of their god common to them all, although even in this the many groups vary, with the orgiastic gatherings performed by some distinct from the sedate and civilized approach taken by others.

Some may come across solitary believers who have been influenced by Cthulhu; whether such influence finds form in artist pursuits or wanton acts of violence depends on the person concerned. A piece of art, a strange idol, or some curious act may provide the gateway into the depths of the Cthulhu Cult and its jigsaw operation.

## Aura

In touching idols of Cthulhu, one feels a greasy sense of falling and an uncanny coldness. Often handling such artifacts causes visions of R’lyeh and, sometimes, allows some connection to the mind of Cthulhu, inviting the entity’s dreams to haunt one’s own dreams. Coming face to face with Cthulhu while venturing through R’lyeh would be a life-changing (or ending) experience. A truly alien being, Cthulhu radiates an otherworldliness that twists human perception and destroys minds: the smell of rotting seas and other indescribable things causes a person to vomit, sounds become distorted, colors are unfamiliar, and one’s mind finds it hard to relate to a thing so large, bizarre, and otherworldly. The sum total of this assault on the senses causes the human mind to sink into insignificance and seek oblivion.

## The Call of Cthulhu

In the sunken abysmal city of R’lyeh, Cthulhu dreams, and such dreams may affect our dreams. Whether there is an intelligence behind such dream-sending or if they are just the emanations of psychic residue infecting the minds of the sensitive is unknown. One tends to imagine Cthulhu’s dreams as “sendings” to susceptible minds, though are such thoughts broadcast so that any sensitive sleeper may hear them or are they specific, reaching out to particular individuals? Reactions to Cthulhu’s dreams seem to be as varied as the people receiving them. Artists are inspired to create nightmare canvases and sculptures and unable to find rest until their corrupted works of art have been completed, others are driven to write pages of incomprehensible gobbledygook, and some seem to react with crazed pathologies, driving them to murder and other horrible acts. A number of recipients presume they are the recipients of visions sent by divine beings, while some seem able to perceive the truth, leading them to start cults or join with others who share their new-found beliefs. Thus, manifold versions of this dream-reception exist, and all have virtually the same effect upon sensitive minds: an awareness of awesome and terrifying vistas of experience, meaning, and implacable intent from the dead and dreaming Cthulhu.