Hastur

**Hastur** is one of the Old Ones, being arguably the most mysterious of them all. He is also believed to be the half-brother of Cthulhu.

## Overview

He is said to be the supposed half-brother of Cthulhu, although unlike most half-siblings Hastur possesses no affection or fondness of any sort towards his brother, instead it being an intense and fierce antagonistic relationship. This is most probably due to the fact that Hastur has attributes that relate to the wind while Cthulhu relates to the water.

The mystery that surrounds him truly speaks volumes as the protagonists would often find themselves being aided by the Old One or even conspiring against them, but his true end-goals are unknown.

## Appearance

Hastur's appearance is largely unknown due to him being completely shrouded in a royal yellow cloak. Despite this, he has shown to have the power of shapeshifting and can assume many different forms. Most notable of which is a humanoid figure dressed in a royal yellow garb, a form which earned him the title "King in Yellow".

## History

### Genesis

Hastur, like all Ogdru Hem, was born from the Ogdru Jahad, and true to his name being the Unspeakable One, to utter his name would welcome his presence before those who would speak it in tongue that is the closest pronunciation to what a human could say. Hastur represents the dark and silent void of Chaos itself, therefore, he is the quiet that exists in the vast emptiness of space.

After the archangels ended their search and extermination of any Old One they could find, Hastur was among those of his race that went into hiding. He did not participate much in the warring conflicts between the Old Ones and the Earth's pantheon of deities, preferring to remain at the sidelines and observe with a distance. What is known in his involvement during the Battle of the Powers was that Hastur had a fierce hatred towards his "half-brother" Cthulhu which is common among most of the Ogdru Hem as they were not too keen on sharing the Earth with one another. As such it resulted in quarrels between themselves, Hastur and Cthulhu included.

Strangely, Hastur began to record the events that transpired throughout the untold eons of primordial Earth. And purposefully laid these documentations strewn about across hidden sectors of the world in order for the early human civilizations to one day locate them and be inspired by these strange tales. Such an act is what prompted Hastur to become drawn to the creativity of man instead of their weak willpower and mind. This also resulted in a fierce antagonistic relationship between him and Morpheus as Hastur is the antithesis of the Son of Nightfall since the latter is a storyteller whilst Hastur consumes the minds of others through their stories.

### False One

Like a few of them, he began to masquerade as many beings that became known and revered on Earth by humans and ancient civilizations, notably as a patron deity of shepherds in the old empire of Lemuria. Hastur has even placed an avatar of himself in the position of a Duke of Hell, and was even regarded as a fallen angel, with the demons being completely unaware of his true identity, for a time at least.

Hastur offered aid to Artorias, one of the Vassals of the Morning Star, proposing a method to safely traverse the Abyss. Despite Artorias' commitment in fighting against the hordes of Nameless Things he was beginning to see that it was a battle that cannot truly be won unless he wholly enters the darkness. Hastur approached him and made a covenant with him by giving him a ring, and was able to traverse the Abyss with the power of his ring, preventing him from being swallowed by the void. His identity was discovered by the Abysswalker when Belphegor recognized the craft and nature of the ring, only for Hastur to immediately escape from Hell's wrath.

### Activities on Earth

Hastur is also believed to be recruiting human-followers through the use of the dreaded King in Yellow, an enigmatic and magical two-act play, which influences people to worship him and spread his play further. Why Hastur does this is not known, and due to his enigmatic nature, will likely never truly be known. However, it is revealed that while other Old Ones favor the weak-minded, Hastur prefers creativity and imagination. He longs for creative and artistic passion within humans and such a trait is a delectable morsel to him. While it is believed that he feeds upon the creativity of man, it is implied that he is gathering the Collective Unconscious for other purposes, likely nefarious or other.

Nonetheless, organizations like the Federal Bureau of Control have seized many copies and recordings of the King in Yellow play, alongside other esoteric artifacts in relation to Hastur, in order to prevent people from falling into the hypnotic allure of the play. Hastur also became a dreaded enemy towards the Fables as they are the embodiment of artistic creativity whilst Hastur consumes creativity itself. It is widely believed that Hastur was the reason why most of the Fables migrated to another realm and settled it in the precipice of the Dreamtimes. Seeing the risk of traversing the Dreamtimes, which is the domain of Morpheus and other deities, Hastur did not take the risk.

At an unspecified point in time, Hastur was imprisoned beneath Cauldron Lake at Bright Falls, Washington by Morpheus in order to ensure that he does not exert any more harm unto the creative minds and imagination of humanity. Even so, this did not fully prevent Hastur from attempting to reach out to artists and writers and influence them into embracing the dark mirror of imagination so as to free him. He even sought aid from the Athudroth, an Old One, who would assist him in freeing him on the condition that they both benefit from this alliance where he was actually nearly freed by aspiring novelist Alan Wake.

## Hastur

### Aliases

King in Yellow, Unspeakable One, Hanged King, Nameless King, The King on the Gallows, He Who Was Hung, He Who Must Not Be Named, He Who Eats Dreams in Robes, The Anguished King, Dark Presence