Byatis

the Berkeley Toad, the Dark Shambler, the Serpent-Bearded One

### Associations

The cold of the earth, darkness, divination, deep ones, forgetfulness, the ghosts of the past, gluttony, growth, hypnosis, imprisonment, petrification, serpent people, Severn Valley, toads

### Common Blessings

**Grow Bigger:** able to increase SIZ by +10 or more points (costing 5 or more magic points), with associated increases in hit points, damage bonus, and so on.**Toad Like:** physical characteristics take on a permanent toad-like or monstrous quality (may adversely affect APP).

> Byatis had but one Eye like the Cyclops, and had claws like unto a Crab ... a nose like the Elephants that 'tis said can be seen in Africa, and great Serpent-like Growths which hung from its Face like a Beard, in the Fashion of some Sea Monster.
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> Ramsey Campbell, "The Room in the Castle"

Byatis, The Berkeley Toad or the Serpent-Bearded Byatis, appears as a gigantic multicolored toad with a single eye, claws similar to a crabs, and a beard of tentacles and has been associated with Yig and Han, as among the "gods of divination".
An 18th-century document relates that a statue of the creature. Later the document says the monster is "somewhat like a Spider, somewhat like a Crab, and somewhat like a Horror in Dreams." It reports that the "Romans found it behind a stone Door in a Camp which was here long before the Invasion."

> Byatis, the serpent-bearded, the god of forgetfulness, came with the Great Old Ones from the stars, called by obeisances made to his image, which was brought by the Deep Ones to Earth. He may be called by the touching of his image by a living being. His gaze brings darkness on the mind; and it is said that those who look upon his eye will be forced to walk into his clutches. He feasts upon those who stray to him, and from those upon whom he feasts he draws a part of their vitality, and so grows vaster.
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> De Vermis Mysteriis

The creature is depicted as incredibly large ~ one of its facial tentacles is as thick as a man ~ which makes it about the size of the castle that it is trapped beneath. Byatis can be repelled by the Elder Sign.

The creature is capable of turning others to stone through the use of its facial tentacles and disguising itself as a human being.

> The vison spoke of a one-eyed being whose beard was a nest of impossibly long trunk-like serpents, each the width of a man, and all mounted on a conical and tapering body possessing spindly legs. Upon two great wings it flew and with two large crab-like claws did it grab and crush those who ran screaming before it.
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It is said that touching an image or carving representing the true form of Byatis awakens the mind of the deity and, in some cases, may cause the entity to be summoned. Ancient lore retold in *De Vermiis Mysteriis* tells of the deep ones who possessed an idol of Byatis and whose devotion to the idol caused the deity to become aware of Earth, allowing it to be brought to the planet, where it appears to have been imprisoned through Elder magics.

Whether Byatis is actually a Great Old One is debatable, given that is appears to have lesser power than others of its kin. Perhaps it is the spawn of an Outer God or some lesser cousin of the nightmare known as Tsathoggua. It certainly appears not to possess any powers of transportation, or at least such powers have been negated by the Elder Wards holding it in check. The historical and folkloric accounts speak of the creature flying about the Severn Valley, so presumably this form of locomotion was commonplace until it was forced to remain underground. Somewhat like the thing named as Bugg-Shash, it appears to desire human sacrifice as food and has an insatiable appetite. One might assume that given a period of enforced fasting, Byatis may decrease in size, allowing it some relative freedom within its dungeon home. One might also guess that access to the stone door of its dungeon is disguised or somehow hidden, diverting would be seekers of the Berkeley Toad from actually finding its resting place.

## History

In ancient times, the idol of Byatis was brought down to Earth by the deep ones. Some time later, under unknown circumstances, Byatis itself was sealed behind a stone door in what would later become the Severn Valley. Most likely, the Elder Gods were responsible.

According to historical accounts, a uexillatio (detachment) of Roman soldiers discovered an ancient stone door while undertaking maneuvers in Britain. When the door was opened, the soldiers found Byatis waiting below. A small group of the soldiers formed a cult to the god, which was annihilated upon Byatis' short-lived escape. Most were eaten, with but one or two survivors living to give their account. In time, a Norman castle was built on the site allegedly found by the Romans, near to what would later become Berkeley and Severnford within the Severn Valley. Accounts of the “Berkeley Toad” are rife in the area, and many will tell a tale concerning Sir Gilbert Morley, the castle’s owner in the 18th century, who was also rumored to be a warlock. The legend says Sir Gilbert rapped the monstrous creature in the dungeon of the castle, and used its powers to enhance his own. He fed it by setting it loose during the night to devour the townsfolk, then returned it to the castle and locked it away once more. However, with each living thing it ate, Byatis grew larger. Eventually, Byatis became too big for its prison, and finally trapped itself so tightly that it could not escape. The tale ends with Sir Gilbert becoming the Toad’s last meal, and how a star was engraved into the stone door behind which the creature dwelled, trapping it with magic should it ever escape its confines. In modern times, the Berkeley Toad is bedtime story told to keep children in check, “lest the Toad come and gobbled you up!”

## Cult

Though no known human cult is associated with Byatis, it is named in several books of occult lore concerned with the British Isles. Apparently, some isolated deep one communities still worship Byatis alongside Great Cthulhu, while some artifacts believed to have been created by serpent people show images of a creature that bears a remarkable likeness to Byatis, suggesting its worship may have at one time spread to the serpent race.

## Encounters

Given its earthly imprisonment, encounters will mainly concern those who venture into the quaint countryside and villages of the Severn Valley, particularly for students of folklore wishing to delve into the tales of the Berkeley Toad, leading them into an underground tunnel and cave system. Perhaps, by now, Byatis has diminished in size enough to break free of the prison, perhaps through a new (unwarded) exit dug through the earth. The Elder Wards may be failing or limited, allowing it brief periods of freedom in the countryside to again bring to life tales of the Berkeley Toad.

## Aura

With its beard of snake-like arms, each able to extend some distance from its body, one may come to face to face with such extremities, believing them to be great serpents, and only come to comprehend their attachment to the greater entity when later seeing it fully. In this sense, darkness and the cold of the earth are features to draw upon, as well as the tension arising from seeing a multitude of great serpents squirming around in the darkness. An initial approach to the old castle above and its dungeon below might inspire a sense of haunting disquiet, with the ghosts of the past playing on one’s mind.