Khalda

A sorceror of the planet Loth. He was guilty of many sinful and unholy deeds.[1] Khalda was the only pupil of the wise one Volnar.[2,3]

Khalda did a great service for the Emperor of Yondath. However, rather than repaying Khalda, the emperor had him arrested and charged with high sacrilege. Khalda was accused of attempting to create artificial life, and of disrespecting the great green stone idol in the market place of Yondath. The emperor condemned the sorcerer to the tortures of the Green Fungi, to be administered by the Head Torturer, Malyat. Khalda was assumed to have died. Some months later, Khalda came in disguise to the court and presented the emperor with the mirror of Truth. When the emperor looked in it, he received a doom that "was alien to all accepted lines of death."[2]

The tortures of Malyat left Khalda with wrinkles and "sundry other vague subtleties of physiognomy and contour" which made it clear that the sorcerer was no longer entirely human.[3] Khalda retired to a windowless castle that had only one doorway, in the roof. He possessed a small and battered image of the curious god Zotog-Ua (Tsathoggua),which he had stolen from his dead master Volnar after the latter was slain.[1]

Khalda had a number of pets that he had created, including a creature like a hybrid of a dog and a winged snake[3], and later a similar creature named Barlykous .[1]

Khalda's chamber also included three and a half pages copied from the Hsothian manuscripts.[1] Khalda awakened when the thief Morla removed the scroll from its chest.[3] Khalda caused Morla to be slain terribly, and later kept his body preserved in a small block of crystal.[1]

After learning that the deity Krang was less powerful than Zotog-Ua, Khalda became interested in contacting only the oldest and most powerful deities, but with little result. He had a habit of observing the heavens, including the satellite Gleer, with his telescope. One day he summoned the deity Shista and offered his pet Barlykous as a sacrifice. It is not known what happened next, but it seems likely that Khalda asked Shista to transport him to Gleer. At any rate, these events culminated in Khalda's curious fate.[1]

1. [RHB Deplorable]
2. [RHB Mirror]
3. [RHB Theft]

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