Elder Things
[HPL Time (online text)]: A race of alien entities from immeasurably distant universes who dominated the earth and three other solar planets about 600 million years ago. They were only partly material, but could wield material tools. They are described as "half-polypous." This may denote a partial resemblance to terrestrial life forms such as sea anemones, which have a cylindrical body plan with a mouth at one end, usually surrounded by tentacles. However, they were capable of changing their body shape at will, and also of temporarily becoming invisible. Their type of consciousness and sense perceptions differed widely from those of terrestrial organisms. The Elder Things had no eyesight, but their senses could penetrate all material barriers.
The Elder Things could control the wind and even harness it for military purposes. They could also fly through the air (despite a lack of any wings). Their footprints occurred in groups of three; each was about a foot square, and consisted of five circular marks, one in advance of the other four. They were associated with singular whistling noises.
After settling on earth, the Elder Things dwelt in great cities of windowless basalt towers and in adjoining underground caverns. The Elder Things preyed horribly on the earth beings they found, including the cone-creatures. However, when the Great Race took over the minds of the cone-creatures, they waged war against the Elder Things. The Great Race could not exchange minds with the Elder Things, since their type of conciousness was too alien. However, the Elder Things could be destroyed by certain types of electrical energy; and the Great Race battled them using camera-like weapons which produced tremendous electrical effects. The Elder Things were defeated and driven underground. The Great Race placed gigantic sealed trapdoors over the entrances.
Something less than 50 million years ago, the Elder Things temporarily errupted from their underground lairs to take vengeance against the Great Race. Ironically, however, the minds of the Great Race had already escaped to the future, to the bodies of the post-human beetle race. So the revenge of the Elder Things was really exacted against hapless captive minds of the beetle race who were stuck in the cone-creature bodies at that point. Thereafter, the Elder Things again withdrew underground and gradually died out [Time; Challenge (online text)]
The Elder Things are hinted of in the beliefs of Australian aborigines, who preserve legends of underground huts from which a frightful wind sometimes blows [Time].
In Derleth stories, the Elder Things are allied with the Great Old Ones (3). Sometime in the future, they will return with the Wind-Walker to menace the Great Race again. [AWD Whippoorwills].
Georg Reuter Fischer read of the Elder Things in Lovecraft's story The Shadow Out of Time [FL Terror2].
In his delerium, Dr. Armitage shouted that the world was in danger from Elder Things. He was apparently referring to the Old Ones (2) associated with Yog-Sothoth. [HPL Dunwich (online text)]
Lake said that the bodies of the Antartic Old Ones (1) reminded him of the fabled Elder Things in the Necronomicon [HPL Mountains].
Return to Cthulhu Universalis Contents Page
Return to CthulhuFiles.com Home Page
Send comments to jfm.baharna@gmail.com.
© Copyright 1996-2024 by Joseph Morales