Eldritch Horror (Kosmos)
Entities
Eldritch
Eldritch Horrors are ancient, pre-sapient entities formed during the Fathoming of a Universe. Similar in origin to the Primordial Spirits, Eldritch Horrors represent the raw, unrefined byproducts of creation—shapes, instincts, and hungers that never resolved into ordered existence.
They are not inherently good nor evil. They possess no morality, no ideology, and no purpose beyond the primal instinct to feed, consume, and expand. Their mere presence distorts reality, warping matter, thought, and the laws of existence around them.
To prevent catastrophe, these beings were sealed away in the chasms of Outer Darkness by Jovanah and the Arch Angel Mikal, acting under mandate of the Organization.
Origins
Eldritch Horrors are formed during the Fathoming—the metaphysical unfolding where a new Universe drafts its shape, laws, and identity. The Fathoming process generates:
- ordered conceptual structures (which become Spirits, Laws, and Fundamental Forces)
- chaotic runoff that fails to stabilize (the Eldritch Horrors)
Where Primordial Spirits are refined and deliberate, Eldritch Horrors are:
- unbounded
- formless or partially formed
- instinct-driven
- massive in conceptual weight
They represent what a Universe *rejects* as it defines itself.
Nature
Eldritch Horrors vary wildly in appearance and scale, but share core traits:
- absence of morality or emotional cognition
- hunger for energy, matter, will, or identity
- influence that corrodes or mutates their surroundings
- fractal, shifting morphology
- resistance to destruction
They do not strategize or communicate in recognizable ways. Their actions are the direct expression of instinctual cosmic entropy.
Instincts
Their core impulses include:
- feeding
- expanding
- collapsing structured reality
- overwhelming conceptual boundaries
To them, Universes are simply vast meals waiting to be consumed.
The Great Sealing
During the earliest era of the Kosmos, the uncontrolled spread of Eldritch Horrors threatened numerous emerging Universes. In response, the Organization authorized a containment effort.
Two figures led the charge:
- Jovanah — whose dominion over conceptual boundaries allowed the defining of a prison-realm
- Mikal, Arch Angel of the Outer Veil — whose power anchored the seals and barriers
Together, they forced the surviving Eldritch Horrors into the unlit trenches of Outer Darkness, a metaphysical void beyond the edge of structured existence.
This event is known as **The Great Sealing**.
Outer Darkness
Outer Darkness is a region outside the lattices of reality, used as a quarantine space for entities too dangerous to destroy or too fundamental to erase.
For Eldritch Horrors, it functions as:
- a containment zone
- a feeding-deprivation chamber
- a conceptual oubliette where their influence cannot reach inhabited Universes
Even sealed, their presence affects Outer Darkness with storms of raw concept, void currents, and distortions known as Hunger Echoes.
Relation to Primordial Spirits
Eldritch Horrors and Primordial Spirits share a common origin—the Fathoming byproduct layer. However, their developmental paths diverged entirely:
- Primordial Spirits stabilize into identity, archetype, and purpose.
- Eldritch Horrors remain malformed, driven by instinct, unbound by law.
Some scholars theorize that if a Universe were left unshaped, it might resemble the chaotic internal landscape of an Eldritch Horror.
In Modern Kosmos Lore
Eldritch Horrors rarely appear in contemporary eras due to the strength of the Sealing, but their influence persists through:
- cults attempting to breach the locks
- anomalies leaking into young universes
- cosmic nightmares linked to Hunger Echoes
- “shallow horrors” — conceptual fragments broken off the originals
Any breach of the Sealing is considered a Class-Ω catastrophe by the Organization.