Nyarlathotep

Maigre bete de la nuit

Only to taunt had Nyarlathotep marked out the way to safety and the marvelous sunset city; only to mock had that black messenger revealed the secret… For madness and the voids wild vengeance are Nyarlathoteps only gifts to the presumptuous…

— H. P. Lovecraft

Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos, is the mind and spirit of the Outer Gods, supplying personality to their power. Nyarlathotep can interact intelligently with other, lesser beings, while the rest of the Outer Gods can only destroy. It can reward or punish, and many intelligent species serve and worship the Outer Gods to gain the favor of Nyarlathotep.

Nyarlathotep uses different shapes for different purposes. It has a human-like form for dealings with humans. Most of its schemes and desires are malign to humans, and it would seem that humanity, at least in its presently sane state, is unsuitable to Nyarlathotep.

Habitat : beyond space and time; often with Azathoth.

Distribution : all times and places have been visited by this being.

Life and Habits : Nyarlathotep enforces the will of the Outer Gods through a variety of means, primarily enlisting the aid of local forces. When sheer power is needed, Nyarlathotep taps the strength of its mighty masters.

Distinguishing Nyarlathotep:

Here are some of the forms Nyarlathotep takes on Earth:

• The Dark Pharaoh, a swarthy fellow slight of build and height who may be dressed in modem garb.

• The Black Man, a tall, lean, hairless man with skin the blackness of ebony, Caucasian features, and hoofed feet, and who wears as his only garment a shapeless robe of heavy black fabric.

• The Howler in Darkness, the three-legged monstrosity, often spotted howling at the Moon for unguessable purposes.

• The Haunter of the Dark, a gigantic blackwinged creature with a three-lobed burning eye as its only facial feature and wings fringed with acid-dripping tendrils, a dangerous and violent form allegedly dispelled by bright light.

Comparative height chart

• The Bloated Woman, a 600 pound, seven-foottall being vaguely resembling an obese human female, with tentacles in place of arms and nose, five perfect cupids-bow mouths made hideous by clusters of protruding fangs, and wearing a yellow-and-black tunic of a material resembling fine silk, in the belt of which hang six sickles and the mystic Black Fan.

Another Form This uncommon manifestation of Nyarlathotep appears by possessing the body of he who dares Contact it. When the Contact is finished, Nyarlathotep departs and the victim reassumes control of his body, a body now permanently altered into this monstrous form. Fig. 17—The “Dark Demon”.

Nyarlathotep›s Movement