American author H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937) created a number of fictional deities throughout the course of his literary career. These entities are usually depicted as immensely powerful and utterly indifferent to humans. Humans can barely begin to comprehend them; however, some entities are worshipped by humans. These deities include the "Great Old Ones" and extraterrestrials , such as the "Elder Things", with sporadic references to other miscellaneous deities (e.g. Nodens ). The "Elder Gods" are a later creation of other prolific writers who expanded on Lovecraft's concepts, such as August Derleth , who was credited with formalizing the Cthulhu Mythos . Most of these deities were Lovecraft's original creations, but he also adapted words or concepts from earlier writers such as Ambrose Bierce , and later writers in turn used Lovecraft's concepts and expanded his fictional universe .
57-579: (Redirected from Elder Gods ) Elder God may refer to: Elder God (Cthulhu Mythos) , a type of fictional deity added to H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos . The Elder God , a video-game character in the Legacy of Kain series Elder Gods (Mortal Kombat) , fictional entities in the Mortal Kombat mythos Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
114-599: A Great Old One as well as an appearance vaguely resembling that of Yog-Sothoth , and is invoked by a deranged prophet with words in Naacal or R'lyehan language almost coinciding with those featured in Cthulhu's invocation, with R'lyeh replaced with Z'lyeh . Azathoth , sometimes referred to as the "Blind Idiot God", is a dreaming monster who rules the Outer Gods, created them (along with many other worlds) and thus effectively serves as
171-557: A colossal, vampiric, red mass of both tentacles and eyes. It dwells within the realm of Rhylkos , which matches with the red planet Mars , and whoever summons Uvhash witnesses an atrocious death. He has affinities with the star vampires , and is rumored to have been one of mad emperor Caligula 's eldritch sponsors as well. There is enmity with both the Elder God Nodens and the Great Old One Gi-Hoveg. Xa'ligha ( Master of
228-423: A creator deity "who made the gods and thereafter rested." In Dunsany's conception, MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI sleeps eternally, lulled by the music of a lesser deity who must drum forever, "for if he cease for an instant then MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI will start awake, and there will be worlds nor gods no more." This oblivious creator god accompanied by supernatural musicians is a clear prototype for Azathoth, Price argues. Other than
285-400: A cross between Azathoth and Ubbo-Sathla : an amorphous, writhing mass of bubbling, nuclear, protoplasmic-gel. He normally dwells alone within an unnamed dimension beyond time and space, unless disturbed or summoned away. Darkness ( Magnum Tenebrosum , The Unnamed Darkness ) is a mysterious entity spawned by Azathoth , and is the progenitor of Shub-Niggurath . D'endrrah ( The Divinity )
342-480: A defiled cult described in the mysterious Cambuluc Scrolls of the wizard Lang-Fu, dating back 1295 AD. Peering through the eyes of this god, after a hideous and devastating ritual, allows one to see straight into Azathoth 's court. It is rumoured that the powers of Mongolian warlord Temujin (Genghis Khan) was a favour of Aiueb Gnshal. Aletheia ( The End of the Darkness ) is a god-like entity symbolizing or incarnating
399-615: A letter to a friend who jokingly claimed descent from Jupiter, Lovecraft drew up a detailed genealogy charting his and fellow writer Clark Ashton Smith's shared descent from Azathoth, through Lovecraft's creation Nyarlathotep and Clark-Smith's Tsathoggua , respectively. As nowhere stated in Lovecraft's published work, primordial Azathoth here is made ancestor, through his children Nyarlathotep, "The Nameless Mist," and "Darkness," of Yog-Sothoth , Shub-Niggurath , Nug and Yeb , Cthulhu , Tsathoggua , several deities and monsters unmentioned outside
456-409: A note Lovecraft wrote to himself in 1919 that read simply, "AZATHOTH—hideous name". Mythos editor Robert M. Price argues that Lovecraft could have combined the biblical names Anathoth ( Jeremiah 's home town) and Azazel —mentioned by Lovecraft in " The Dunwich Horror ". Price also points to the alchemical term " Azoth ", which was used in the title of a book by Arthur Edward Waite , the model for
513-471: A novel floundered (a 500-word fragment survives, first published under the title " Azathoth " in the journal Leaves in 1938), although Lovecraftian scholar Will Murray suggests that Lovecraft recycled the idea into his Dream Cycle novella The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath , written in 1926. Price sees another inspiration for Azathoth in Lord Dunsany 's Mana-Yood-Sushai , from The Gods of Pegana ,
570-575: A race of foul servitors. He has been permanently banished from the Elder Gods' Olympus and imprisoned beneath the eastern Mediterranean Sea , near Greece , in a dark, basalt-built citadel named Atheron . However the exiled deity is not dead but just sleeping, and one day he will rise again from his abyss manifesting himself as a blue, 6-metre tall, cyclops -like monstrosity, with the bulk of his body covered entirely in crawling worms. A goat-like fiendish horror with bat wings and multiple horns, mentioned as
627-513: A rudimentary face or faces within the glowing mass. The Star Mother, also called "The Great Mother Of All", appears as a chunk of yellow-green stone about the size of an infant. Its shape suggests a plump, huge-breasted, faceless female figure. From it extend dozens of pencil-thin root-like strands. It is one of the Larvae of the Other Gods and has no cult, although served by zombie slaves. Suc'Naath
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#1732851155329684-499: A sort of cosmic yin and yang, whose meeting resulted in the creation of all things (although Azathoth is usually attributed to this). Their joinings routinely create and destroy matter and entities. One of the beings created in this way was the inimical Outer God Ngyr-Khorath. Mril Thorion is an Outer God who, along with Mlandoth, serve as Yin and Yang. Mlandoth and Mril Thorion were created by Walter C. DeBill Jr., but were suggested years earlier by Clark Ashton Smith. Walter C. DeBill Jr.
741-425: A terrible shock from the grisly scene so witnessed. Sometimes The Hydra is treated as a Great Old One. Ialdagorth ( The Dark Devourer ) is both the cousin and servant of Azathoth , appearing as a black, shapeless, malevolent mist. The sight of such a fiend is unsettling if not traumatizing. Kaajh'Kaalbh is a lesser Outer God, servitor of Azathoth , but secluded in a parallel chaotic-dimension where everything
798-524: A vast sea of gray ooze. A multitude of living heads, some human and some alien, sprout from the ooze, sobbing and grimacing as if in great agony. The Hydra's worshipers trick others into sending the god sacrifices through a pamphlet known as On the Sending Out of the Soul . The last page contains a magical formula for astral projection . When followed, the formula always works as expected, harmlessly transporting
855-552: A wet, warty globe, covered with countless ovoid pustules and spider-webbed with a network of long, narrow tunnels. Each pustule bears the larva of a Great Old One. An invisible wolf-like fiend similar to Fenrir of Norse mythology (if not coincident). Mh'ithrha ( Arch-Lord of Tindalos ) is the lord of the Hounds of Tindalos , and the most powerful. Although not an actual Outer God as such, its form and astounding powers defy standard classification. Mh'ithra's eternal battle with Yog-Sothoth
912-524: Is a "misty, shapeless thing" spawned by Azathoth , and is the progenitor of Yog-Sothoth . Ngyr-Korath ( The Ultimate Abomination or The Dream-Death ) is a dark blue-green mist that causes a sense of terror as it approaches. Once close, an eye of flame forms within. He was spawned by fission of the Great Old One (or the avatar of) ‘Ymnar, and his nemesis is the Elder God Paighon . He coincides with
969-421: Is a sort of blurry female entity of supernatural beauty, dwelling within her obsidian palace located on Mars' moon Deimos . She lives in a hall composed of myriad mirrors that distort her appearance, which is that of a tentacled dark abyss. This Mythos entity is somewhat inspired by C. L. Moore 's Shambleau , the illusionary Martian she-vampires of lust. The Hydra dwells in an alternate dimension, and appears as
1026-555: Is an author of horror and science fiction short stories and a contributor to the Cthulhu Mythos. He created the parallel Mlandoth Cycle. A Lesser Outer God composed of slime, tentacles, eyes, and mouths. The Mother of Pus was spawned through an obscene mating between a human and Shub-Niggurath . When summoned to Earth, the Mother of Pus seeks refuge in pools of stagnant, foul water. The Nameless Mist ( Magnum Innominandum , Nyog' Sothep )
1083-736: Is an unnamed Outer God at the court of Azathoth . C'thalpa ( The Internal One ) is a huge mass of living sentient magma, located in the Earth's mantle . She is mother of the Great Old One Shterot , and five other unnamed hideous children. She is also served by a race of mole-like humanoid burrowers known as the Talpeurs . Cxaxukluth ( Androgynous Offspring of Azathoth ) is one of the Seed-Spawn of Azathoth , grown to adulthood and monstrous proportions. In appearance, Cxaxukluth resembles something of
1140-478: Is called Azathoth and Other Horrors . The last major reference in Lovecraft's fiction to Azathoth was in 1935's " The Haunter of the Dark ", which tells of "the ancient legends of Ultimate Chaos, at whose center sprawls the blind idiot god Azathoth, Lord of All Things, encircled by his flopping horde of mindless and amorphous dancers, and lulled by the thin monotonous piping of a demonic flute held in nameless paws". In
1197-516: Is later stated to be where the archetypes reside, the true and unimaginable forms of the Outer Gods, though as facets of the Supreme Archetype. Lovecraft referred to Azathoth again in " The Whisperer in Darkness " (1931), where the narrator relates that he "started with loathing when told of the monstrous nuclear chaos beyond angled space which the Necronomicon had mercifully cloaked under
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#17328511553291254-562: Is one of the Great Ones, the gods of Earth that reside in Kadath. He might also be the same being as Zo-Kalar. (HP Lovecraft's Dreamlands, "Wizards of Hyperborea", Mike Minnis' "The Crawler of Pnoth") As it is known in the Mythos, the Outer Gods are ruled by Azathoth , the "Blind Idiot God", who holds court at the center of infinity. A group of Outer Gods dance rhythmically around Azathoth, in cadence to
1311-450: Is one of the mindless gods which twist and dance in the court of Azathoth . It appears as a formless spinning hurricane -like thing with strings of violet and golden colors across its shape, constantly emitting sickening smacking and screeching noises while showing pain-stricken faces across its body. Suc'Naath's essence is currently divided into three parts, one in a comet called Aiin , the other in some sort of statue located somewhere in
1368-555: Is said to be legendary. Mlandoth is a primal entity or force, not dissimilar to the Nameless Mist or Darkness, although it is uncertain if it is a place, conscious being, or an inconceivable maelstrom of unknown forces and properties outside the perceptible cosmos. It is mentioned in Uralte Schrecken as a kind of prime archetype from which all mythical god-heads are derived. According to the cycle surrounding these beings, they are
1425-676: Is the complete irrelevance of humanity in the face of the cosmic horrors that exist in the universe, with Lovecraft constantly referring to the "Great Old Ones": a loose pantheon of ancient, powerful deities from space who once ruled the Earth and who have since fallen into a death-like sleep. Lovecraft named several of these deities, including Cthulhu , Ghatanothoa , and Yig . With a few exceptions, Cthulhu, Ghatanothoa, et al., this loose pantheon apparently exists outside of normal space-time. Although worshipped by deranged human (and inhuman) cults, these beings are generally imprisoned or restricted in their ability to interact with most people (beneath
1482-456: Is the supreme deity of the Cthulhu Mythos and the ruler of the Outer Gods , and may also be seen as a symbol for primordial chaos , therefore being the most powerful entity in the entirety of the Cthulhu Mythos. Azathoth is referred to as the "daemon-sultan" and "Lord of All Things", whose throne is at the center of "Ultimate Chaos". The first recorded mention of the name Azathoth was in
1539-462: Is unknown. As well as occasionally returning to white capped Thurai, Lerion and Hatheg-Kla on cloud ships under the cover of a light mist, they abandoned Kadath for a brief period for the "sunset city" that Randolph Carter conjured in his dreams. In the past, the Great Ones often married human women, so many human inhabitants of the Dreamlands have Great One blood in them. Lobon, also known as Lobon of
1596-515: Is unstable. The god itself is constantly formed or disrupted and has no true form at all. Whoever attempts summoning this entity needs the aid of a dimensional shambler , and the deity may manifest in a variety of forms, often as an immense lava lake or a vast pool of solidified quicksilver . Lu-Kthu ( Birth-womb of the Great Old Ones or Lew-Kthew ) is a titanic, planet-sized mass of entrails and internal organs. On closer examination it appears
1653-546: The Necronomicon about the mindless entity Azathoth, which rules all time and space from a curiously environed black throne at the centre of Chaos". He later fears finding himself "in the spiral black vortices of that ultimate void of Chaos wherein reigns the mindless daemon-sultan Azathoth". The poet Edward Pickman Derby, the protagonist of Lovecraft's " The Thing on the Doorstep ", is a poet whose collection of "nightmare lyrics"
1710-448: The supreme deity of the Cthulhu Mythos. Azathoth can't understand anything in his dream, hence his title. Azathoth also shifts in his slumber, causing reality to change. Azhorra-Tha is an Outer God imprisoned on the planet Mars , as it fled from Earth after the imprisonment of the Great Old Ones. Its appearance is that of an insectoid to toad-like squid, but its shape continuously changes, emitting an awful buzz. The Mi-Go discovered
1767-546: The truth . Named after the Greek goddess of truth , it manifests as a vast spiral of manifold titanic hands with a single cycloptic eye in each palm as in the Hamsa , and kilometric wire-like protrusions able to ensnare living beings, replacing their spinal bone in puppet-like fashion. Introduced in Dylan Dog issue 374, In the plot, the entity has clear features of an Outer God rather than
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1824-484: The Dreamlands, the Great Ones are not as powerful as the Great Old Ones and are not even as intelligent as most humans. However, they are protected by the Outer Gods, particularly Nyarlathotep . While they once lived on peaks across the world they were driven off of lower mountains by the spread of humanity until they had to leave Earth entirely, leaving only a mark on Mount Ngranek. The Great Ones now rule from their hidden fortress of Kadath, whose location in time and space
1881-457: The Journey") Oukranos is one of the Great Ones, the gods of Earth that reside in Kadath. ( The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath ) Tamash is a Great One dwelling on Kadath. Tamash was one of the chief gods worshipped in doomed Sarnath along with Zo-Kalar and Lobon. ("The Doom That Came to Sarnath;" HP Lovecraft's Dreamlands, "Wizards of Hyperborea") Zo-Kalar is a Great One dwelling on Kadath. Zo-Kalar
1938-474: The Outer Gods, instead calling them the Other Gods or the gods of the outer hells, as noted in his short story " The Other Gods ". Aiueb Gnshal ( The Eyes Between Worlds , The Child-Minded God ) is a mysterious Outer God, who has his abode in a forgotten temple located somewhere in Bhutan . He appears as a formless black void, with seven pulsing orb-like eyes, and is mainly worshiped by ghouls , which tribute him in
1995-457: The Sacred Spear is one of the Great Ones, the gods of Earth that reside in Kadath. He appears as an ivy-crowned youth bearing a spear. ("The Doom That Came to Sarnath"; H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands, John Fultz's "Wizards of Hyperborea") Nath-Horthath is known as one of the chief gods of Celephaïs. ("Celephaïs", The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath ; HP Lovecraft's Dreamlands, "Kadath/The Vision and
2052-525: The Twisted Sound or Demon of Dissonance ) is an entity made of maddening sound, somehow similar to Tru'Nembra . There is some affinity with the Great Old One Hastur . Xexanoth is a fictional character from Clark Ashton Smith 's Cthulhu Mythos work. It appears only once in "The Chain of Aforgomon", where it is summoned by the main character. Apparently, Xexanoth is the bane and mortal enemy of
2109-658: The brother of Shub-Niggurath . Olkoth ( God of the Celestial Arcs ) appears as a demoniacal god-like entity able to reincarnate in human bodies if the stars are right (sort of a "Cthulhian" Antichrist ). Olkoth may emerge in our dimension through an eyeless, grotesque statue of the Virgin Mary . Shabbith-Ka appears as a shapeless, roughly man-sized purplish aura, spitting and crackling with powerful electrical arcs. A sense of power, malignancy, and intelligence accompanies it and persons able to gaze at its form long enough can see
2166-529: The centre of ultimate Chaos.... He must sign in his own blood the book of Azathoth and take a new secret name.... What kept him from going with her...to the throne of Chaos where the thin flutes pipe mindlessly was the fact that he had seen the name 'Azathoth' in the Necronomicon , and knew it stood for a primal horror too horrible for description." Gilman wakes from another dream remembering "the thin, monotonous piping of an unseen flute", and decides that "he had picked up that last conception from what he had read in
2223-447: The cosmos, yet is somehow locked outside the mundane universe. Nyarlathotep , the "Crawling Chaos", is the avatar of the Outer Gods, existing as the incarnation of space and functions as an intermediary between the deities of the pantheon and their cults. The only Outer God to have a true personality, Nyarlathotep possesses a malign intellect and reveals a mocking contempt for his masters. Lovecraft himself never made reference to them as
2280-461: The daemon said, As in contempt he struck his Master’s head. The "daemon" that claims to be Azathoth's messenger is identified by later authors as Nyarlathotep , another of Lovecraft's deities. In a 1930 letter, Lovecraft describes Azathoth as "the mindless Lord of Nighted Chaos who is the father of all other horrors & is coeval with the Ultimate Abyss itself", in which the Ultimate Abyss
2337-446: The entity described in H. P. Lovecraft's story " The Festival ". Tulzscha appears as a blazing green ball of flame, dancing with its Lesser Outer Gods at the court of Azathoth . Called to our world, it assumes a gaseous form, penetrates the planet to the core, then erupts from below as a pillar of flame. It cannot move from where it emerges. Uvhash ( The Blood-Mad God of the Void ) appears as
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2394-560: The entity known as the Magnum Tenebrosum . First appearing in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem of the same name, he was later mentioned in other works by Lovecraft and by other writers and in the tabletop role-playing games making use of the Cthulhu Mythos. Later writers describe him as one of the Outer Gods. He is a shape-shifter with a thousand forms, most of them maddeningly horrific to humans. Once an Elder God, Nyctelios has been punished by his peers—especially Nodens —for having created
2451-445: The fragmentary draft described above, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath was the first fiction by Lovecraft to mention Azathoth: [O]utside the ordered universe [is] that amorphous blight of nethermost confusion which blasphemes and bubbles at the center of all infinity—the boundless daemon sultan Azathoth, whose name no lips dare speak aloud, and who gnaws hungrily in inconceivable, unlighted chambers beyond time and space amidst
2508-476: The human mind is incapable of processing; simply viewing them renders the viewer incurably insane. As written by H.P. Lovecraft, only the slumbering R'lyehians are Great Old Ones. The RPG Call of Cthulhu is the one that originally coined Outer God, and Great Old One. Despite misconceptions, R'lyeh is not the home of Cthulhu, just a point of travel between the Void and the Material Realm. The so-called "gods" of
2565-410: The muffled, maddening beating of vile drums and the thin monotonous whine of accursed flutes. Verse 22 of Lovecraft's 1929 poetry cycle Fungi from Yuggoth is entitled "Azathoth" and consists of the following: Out in the mindless void the daemon bore me Past the bright clusters of dimensioned space, Till neither time nor matter stretched before me, But only Chaos, without form or place. Here
2622-527: The name of Azathoth". Here "nuclear" most likely refers to Azathoth's central location at the nucleus of the cosmos and not to nuclear energy , which did not truly come of age until after Lovecraft's death. In " The Dreams in the Witch House " (1932), the protagonist Walter Gilman dreams that he is told by the witch Keziah Mason that "He must meet the Black Man , and go with them all to the throne of Azathoth at
2679-475: The old Hashashin cult as well). Tru'nembra ( The Angel of Music ) is the name given in the Malleus Monstrorum Call of Cthulhu roleplay game guide to the entity described in H. P. Lovecraft 's novel " The Music of Erich Zann ". It has no shape but manifests as haunting music. Tulzscha ( The Green Flame ) is the name given in the Malleus Monstrorum Call of Cthulhu roleplay game guide to
2736-564: The piping of a demonic flute. Among the Outer Gods present at Azathoth's court are the entities called "Ultimate Gods" in The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (called "Lesser Outer Gods" in the Call of Cthulhu RPG), and possibly Shub-Niggurath , the "Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young". Yog-Sothoth, the "All-in-One and One-in-All", co-rules with Azathoth and exists as the incarnation of time in
2793-508: The prison of Azhorra-Tha the millennia after, and made everything to not reveal its location to any human being. The Blackness from the Stars is an immobile blob of living, sentient darkness, torn from the primal fabric of the cosmos at the center of the universe. It is distinguishable in darkness only as vaguely shimmering oily pitch. Although intelligent, it speaks no known language and ignores attempts to communicate. A man-eating cloudy mass, it
2850-406: The sea, inside the Earth, in other dimensions, and so on), at least until the hapless protagonist is unwittingly exposed to them. Lovecraft visited this premise in many of his stories, notably his 1928 short story, " The Call of Cthulhu ", with reference to the eponymous creature. However, it was Derleth who applied the notion to all of the Great Old Ones. The majority of these have physical forms that
2907-666: The time god Aforgomon and, because of Aforgomon likely being an avatar of the Outer God Yog-Sothoth , is probably an Elder or Outer God. Ycnàgnnisssz is a black, festering, amorphous mass that constantly blasts and erupts violently, spewing out bits of churning lava-like material. She spawned the Great Old One Zstylzhemgni . Azathoth Azathoth is a deity in the Cthulhu Mythos and Dream Cycle stories of writer H. P. Lovecraft and other authors. He
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#17328511553292964-501: The title Elder God . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elder_God&oldid=1164367029 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Elder God (Cthulhu Mythos) A recurring theme in Lovecraft's work
3021-527: The user in astral form to whatever destination is desired. However, unbeknownst to the user, the ritual also brings the subject into contact with the Hydra, which then merges with the individual's astral self, using it as a host. Anyone present where the astral traveler appears is decapitated, the victim's head taken to become part of the Hydra. Afterwards, the astral traveler is returned safely to his or her original body, suffering no ill effects, except perhaps receiving
3078-417: The vast Lord of All in darkness muttered Things he had dreamed but could not understand, While near him shapeless bat-things flopped and fluttered In idiot vortices that ray-streams fanned. They danced insanely to the high, thin whining Of a cracked flute clutched in a monstrous paw, Whence flow the aimless waves whose chance combining Gives each frail cosmos its eternal law. "I am His Messenger,"
3135-439: The wizard Ephraim Waite in Lovecraft's " The Thing on the Doorstep ". Another note Lovecraft made to himself later in 1919 refers to an idea for a story: "A terrible pilgrimage to seek the nighted throne of the far daemon-sultan Azathoth." In a letter to Frank Belknap Long , Lovecraft ties this plot germ to Vathek , a supernatural novel by William Beckford about a wicked caliph . Lovecraft's attempts to work this idea into
3192-694: The world, while the third has been genetically passed on for eons through prehuman, and now human races of Earth, mostly in the Middle East. The carriers of the Outer God's powers are said to have done great acts of magic and/or to have been insane. If these three parts are ever to be combined, Suc'Naath will be freed. This entity is served by a small Middle-Eastern cult known as the Golden Hands of Suc'Naath , who collect deranged intellectuals and trained assassins who wish to set Suc'Naath free (they may have connections to
3249-502: Was one of the chief gods worshipped in doomed Sarnath along with Tamash and Lobon. (HPL: "The Doom That Came to Sarnath"). It is also possibly the same being as Karakal or Karakal of Flames. ("The Doom That Came to Sarnath"; "Wizards of Hyperborea") Hagarg Ryonis, also known as The Lier-in-Wait is one of the Great Ones, the gods of Earth that reside in Kadath. He appears as a huge reptilian monster. (HP Lovecraft's Dreamlands, "Wizards of Hyperborea") Karakal, also known as Karakal of Flames
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