Chapter Six
Masters of Chaos Kail stood before the dark figure, paralyzed with terror. Somehow, he never thought it would be like this. As the tall, dark man strode toward him, the only features Karl could make out were his terrible dark yellow eyes. Its yellow eyes. Karl knew that Shallamoth Kindred was no more a man than he was a god. More accurately, he was a force—a horrid force of destruction and death that represented the cold, terrible end of all things. As the figure drew still closer, it felt as though something began to flay Kail’s flesh, as if the very molecules of his body could not stand the presence of the Galchutt and lost cohesion. His skin blistered and bruised. Blood oozed from somewhere above his eyes. This, Karl realized, was the end. In many, many respects.
his chapter details the terrible Dark Ones, the Lords of Chaos themselves. In addition to an overview of Galchutt qualities and goals, it also presents two unique individuals, five major Galchutt races, and the members of the Elder Brood: the lesser Galchutt races.
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The Galchutt The Galchutt are defined almost as easily by what they are not as by what they are. They are not gods. They gain no benefit from being worshipped or having temples. They are not mortals. They are beings beyond the ken of even the most learned sages. They are outsiders, but they have no native plane. They are outsiders no matter what plane they are on— they are alien no matter where they go. (Thus, they are not subject to banishment type effects.) They never seek welcome, solace, or sanctuary. They have no allies. The Galchutt make no pacts or allegiances. Anything sane is their enemy. The only Galchutt goal is oblivion. They seek the destruction of all creation and will settle for nothing less. They are not necessarily sinister beings of excessive cruelty—annihilation is more important to them than misery, disruption more vital than suffering. Thus, they are beings of chaos more than they are beings of evil, although it is difficult to imagine a sane worldview which does not consider them evil as well. Time is meaningless to the Galchutt. If it takes millions of years to reach their goal, it is as a moment to them. To human sensibilities, they move impossibly slowly in their schemes and even seem to sleep for aeons. However, when the end comes—when they “awaken” and the eschaton arrives—it will seem to come with terrible, unstoppable swiftness. The plans they have set in motion are simply too vast for most mortals to comprehend. The Galchutt do not sleep. It is such thinking that lulls into a false sense of safety those few who could oppose them, or who know to oppose them. Most people remain blissfully ignorant of the Galchutt’s existence. Those who do know of them are usually the chaos cultists that revere them. Even the cultists do not truly worship the Galchutt, but rather the principles they represent.
No temples to the Galchutt exist, except perhaps those created by confused or misled cultists. The Galchutt do not desire worshippers or priests and do not care for adoration or reverence. They do seek servants and slaves to aid them in their cause. They sometimes indirectly reward those who serve them, although in actual fact they simply grant them more tools and abilities to further carry out their will. Of course, only the truly mad among their servants really understand their masters. Many delude themselves into thinking that, although the Galchutt seek oblivion, they will spare their truly faithful servants. This is ludicrous. The Galchutt do not even exclude themselves in their desire for the total annihilation of all creatures and all matter. The Galchutt are not demons or devils. They do not seek to tempt, to trick, or to corrupt. Such goals imply concern or consideration for mortal actions, and the Galchutt have neither. They do not thrive on suffering or pain or misery, although such things follow in their wake. Of the few fiends that know of them, few would work alongside them—and then only out of ignorance of the Galchutt’s true nature and goals. The Galchutt have no relationship with any gods, even those of chaos and evil. Clerics of the chaos cults draw their power from chaos itself, not the Galchutt. Galchutt is a human name. The ancient elves called them the Natharl’nacna. No one seems to have ever learned what they call themselves, if anything. They sometimes are referred to as the Lords of Chaos, usually by those who don’t know any better (or seek to hide what they know). Galchutt Qualities: All Galchutt speak telepathically (and only telepathically). They can make themselves understood by any creature with an Intelligence score, with a range based on their Hit Dice. HD 1–10 11–20 20–25 26+
Range 100 feet 1,000 feet 2 miles 20 miles
