Old One

The  **Old Ones** are ancient supernatural beings of tremendous power, which were set to slumber by a great conflict in ages past. Players take on the role of an Old One trying to awaken and once again control the world. Depending on how they choose to set up the Scenario, they may be the only one or they may vie against their peers as well. Not every Old One is playable; some can only be encountered as antagonists.

Confirmed Old Ones include:

* Azlan, the Dreaming God. A late-game Old One; awakening slowly and focused on preventing the world from learning of his return until too late using his **Dream Host** abilities. His signature **Night Whispers** let him slowly alter the personalities of Leaders and Heroes.
* Belial the Deceiver. A versatile Old One who can field many Agents at once. **Dwelling In Darkness** lets him sway the attentions of beasts, and later cowardly men. **Will over Fate** gives him foreknowledge and control over future events.
* Sisyphus, Man's Lament. A former mortal, Sisyphus focuses on Agents which are few but very powerful. **The Price of Victory** focuses on empowering those tools, while his **Of Mortal Birth** abilities depend on the history chosen by the player in Scenario Generation.
* Karth the Scarred. The last surviving Primal God, worshipped by Orcs as a god of war. Karth wakes quickly, but is one of the weakest Old Ones; he works best with early game strategies. **War Without End** helps him fan the flames of war into an all-consuming blaze, and **Call of the Horde** gives him a special kinship with and command over Orcs, goblins and other creatures.
* Limos, the Unchained. An ancient entity bent on ending all life. He has a kinship with the undead, but finds the living hard to recruit or sway to his will. **The Gift of Death** helps him build undead legions and turn Agents or Heroes to his side, while **End of Days** lets him bring calamity down upon the wretched living.
* Seraph, the Dark Star. A mysterious entity connected to crystalline towers dotted around the landscape. The towers radiate her Light, within which **Reflections of Grace** lets her summon Avatars of herself and work powerful magics. **Celestial Artifice** allows her new Rituals, artifacts and so on using the scattered *remnants* of her fallen Palace. Finding and acquiring these remnants is a major focus for her.
* Moloch, the Fetid Primeval, is an ancient parasite that feeds on the life of the world above it. As he awakes **fetid pools** appear on the surface spreading decay and laying waste to their surroundings. As ancient as it is, Moloch finds little pleasure in the modern world and would reshape it to its wild beginnings, spreading terror to the forests and plunging societies into a more primitive state. Moloch was the first Old One voted in as a Stretch Goal.
* Inatha, the Cold Heart, is composed of many voices shrieking icy winds. Inatha's primary power lies in terraforming the world until it is much colder, thus spreading tundra and ruining crops. Inatha's voice has been scattered after its death and if combined allow the frozen armies of the north to march once again. Inatha is the second Old One added to the game due to Kickstarter Strech Goals.

## Old Ones not in the game

As a Kickstarter Stretch Goal, backers received a choice of three new Old Ones: Moloch a primeval parasite, Anaxas asleep on his treasure horde, and Tzadar the Laughing God. Voting is closed. Moloch is the clear winner with 329 of 597 votes. Tzadar received 159 and Anaxas 90.

A second vote, allowing either a new culture or Old One has also finished. Available options include the two failed Kickstarter Old Ones, three races, and a new Old One, Inatha. Inatha is described as many voices howling in the wind and its abilities use the terraforming supported by the new hex system to carpet the world in cold. The polls closed on January 5th with Inatha winning with 119 out of 277 votes and Tzadar coming in second with 67 votes.

King Dinosaur Games have also mentioned two possible additions if there are enough pre-orders for a new Old One vote. The first is a Sentient War Machine from the Age of Wonders. The second a wraith-lord that is the manifestation of the world's fallen - he inverts the "clue" process because there is no past to him, instead the heroes have to dig through the ancient ruins of other cultures to piece together what his many forms may be. Both offer a lot of interaction with procedural generation and ruins as well as having ability trees that are very unique compared to the base eight.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kingdinosaurgames/that-which-sleeps/posts/1022266
2. ↑ http://www.kingdinosaurgames.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6
3. ↑ http://www.kingdinosaurgames.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=165