Nyarlathotep

Overview

Unlike the vast indifferent gods who dream or churn at the centre of infinity, Nyarlathotep takes an active interest in human affairs. He walks among us. He speaks. He delivers forbidden science to the curious, orchestrates cults in every continent, and visits ruin with what surviving records describe, again and again, as cruel amusement. He is the Crawling Chaos, the Black Pharaoh, the Haunter of the Dark, and he has a thousand other faces besides.

The archive ranks Nyarlathotep as the most immediately dangerous of the Outer Gods to human civilization, not because of his scale but because of his intent. He wants something from us. He always has.

Description

No single description suffices. In 1920, witnesses saw a tall, swarthy man resembling an Egyptian pharaoh, who travelled from city to city demonstrating inventions that should not exist, devices that drove spectators to frenzy and suicide. In Rhode Island, he appeared as the Haunter of the Dark, a winged, three-lobed burning eye that could be summoned by gazing into the Shining Trapezohedron. In Australia, in Germany, in the slums of New York, other guises have been reported: the Dark Demon, the Black Messenger, a figure in a satin mask.

What unites these manifestations is manner: eloquence, patience, and a relish for the moment when understanding turns to horror.

Historical Record

The first modern account, published under fiction's disguise, described a lecture tour that ended in worldwide nightmare, screams in the small hours, cities in chaos, the sense that the universe had become a madman's joke. Subsequent incidents link Nyarlathotep to the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh, to the Church of Starry Wisdom, and to isolated scholars who received visitations and did not survive the knowledge.

He serves Azathoth, it is said, as messenger and soul, though whether 'soul' implies loyalty or merely function remains unclear. Some texts name him the god of a thousand forms; others insist he is the only Outer God who treats humanity as more than dust.

Archive Notes

Personnel are instructed: if a stranger offers you understanding of the universe, decline. If an invention is demonstrated that cannot be explained by known physics, withdraw. If you hear the phrase 'Aklo' spoken in earnest, you are already compromised. Nyarlathotep cannot be fought; he can only be avoided until he chooses another plaything. Report all Black Pharaoh iconography to Section VII immediately.