Strange Aeons

The Elder Race is not quite as smug as it once was (The full name of that crinoidal species being “The Glorious and Everlasting Race that shalt reign over the cosmos for untold aeons until the very end of all things”). The traumatic experience of the Reign of Cuthulu and his Star-spawn, the coming of the Great Race, the War of resubjugation and the current Mi-Go invasion have all dented the Primordial ones self-esteem somewhat. The current plan of the Assembly (The governing body of the Elder Beings, essentially made up of whatever Elder Things can be bothered to partake in public affairs) is to simply hold onto what they have, the cataclysmic loss of the new cities built in the northern lands (After R'lyeh sank again, the Elder Things reconquered what the Cosmic Octopi had taken from them) to the Mi-go resulted in too many dead Elder Things, and also allowed the Yithians to claim the Eastern shore of what would be Africa (The time-travelling Great-race’s insistence on calling it “Africa” annoys everyone else, who call it “Yi-yi-tix-bang-ni-!!!-zupleyax”). Best to just cling on in the South, the sacred region of first arrival, and hope that the Mi-Go and the Great Race destroy one another. After all, the Elder Race has survived Cuthulu and his spawn, geological upheaval and the Shoggoth uprising, they can survive this.

The Elder Things like to claim that their society is post-scarcity. And this is true to a certain extent, although not due to any grandiose technological supremacy on their part. Given the life-span of an Elder Being, and the technological stagnation of the ones populating Earth, most Primordial Ones have most of the stuff they could ever want. Their vast cities, although central plaza’s still bustle occasionally, are rather desolate places. Many of their buildings lie abandoned, as the whims of their masters demand new buildings, out of greed or sheer ennui. Indeed stagnation seems to be the only real future the Elder Race has. Most of the vast Empire they claim is unpopulated (Although that is pretty normal, it is the same with the Great Race and the Mi-Go). Even the Cult of Science is losing adherents, young (Under 1,000,000 years old) Elder Things preferring to spend their days romping through Leng in a drug-induced haze rather than spending their time listening to the endless eulogies to past technological glories.  Politically the Assembly is also a rather ossified institution, its remit having expanded considerably over the past epochs to most walks of life (Many Elder Things not really caring enough to run businesses or factories). The current brilliant plan of the Assembly leadership is to make greater use of the Shoggoths, not necessarily due to their use on land as builders, but because their increased use would inflate the value of the Shoggoth Futures which the government has accumulated (The “War of resubjugation Veterans Association” are just cranks for opposing it, according to State news sources).  

In contrast the Great Race (Of Yith) is currently feeling rather pleased with their current circumstances. While they haven’t conquered the world they do have a war to fight and lots of new species to dissect. The primitive and vaguely molluscan creatures that the Great Race took over where never a threat to the Elder Race’s supremacy; so it was rather a big shock for the Elder Beings to return to the northern lands only to find them building cities and utilizing technology more advanced than theirs (although hearing they had sealed the Poplypous Race beneath the earth came as something of a relief). In the fight between Elder weapons of molecular and atomic disturbance and the Yithians’ unhealthy obsession with lightning cannons the Yithians won; and they drove the Elder Beings from the Asiatic landmass, which they claimed for themselves. They have since fought the Primordial Ones across the planet, establishing their own colonies on the surrounding Islands and the east coast of Africa. Currently the Great Race is busily engaged in fighting the Mi-Go invaders, who are trying to conquer the Northern Hemisphere. The Mi-go have also unlocked a few of the vaults containing the Flying Polyps, which has resulted is slightly hysterical reaction (More lighting cannons, MORE LIGHTING CANNONS) on the Yithians’ part. The Great Races’ counter-attack is gaining momentum, rapidly driving towards the Mi-Go populated areas of the Asiatic continent. So far the Mi-Go have not responded…..but the Yithians remain confident that they have enough lighting guns to deal with it (Failing that, they can always run away through space and time and leave some other poor saps to die in their old bodies).

The Great Race is organised into a vast edifice called “The Greater Yithian Nation”. This is the governing body of the Race, and operates on the tried and tested system of brutal military hierarchy. The Great Race’s ruling body is utterly totalitarian, controlling all vital resources (which includes books, the Yithians are very keen on reading) and directing all activity within the Nation. Free time (of which there is rather a lot, as machines do most of the work) should be spent reading or practicing with your lighting gun. The state is directed into four separate provinces, each with its own Board of Governors. These Governors are chosen from the amongst the most intelligent (There is a reason they are very fond of reading) normally selected following intense academic disputation; although one memorable Governor got into the office due to tremendous stand-up comedy ability (His rival was very boring). The Supreme Governor, leader of the entire great race, is chosen by the most sacred of Yithian traditions. Namely violent fratricidal civil war between the four provinces. Whichever province wins the civil war has the Chair of its Board of Governors elevated to the office of supreme governorship, and is empowered to direct the activities of the wider race.

Then there are the Mi-Go, who have come to Earth from shadowed Yuggoth, come from their windowless cities of basalt aside rivers of black pitch under a cold dark sky; for one purpose.

Rocks.

The Mi-go need rocks. Why nobody (Including the Mi-go, who just chuck it through the dimensional portal on Yuggoth that they barely know how to use) knows, but the Fungi from Yuggoth are relentless in their quest to obtain rocks of the right sort (which sort is the right sort seems to change regularly, it is in fact the subject of intense debate back on Yuggoth) and let nothing stand in their way. While the Mi-Go do have access to weapons of nefarious energy, their main advantage in a war is the vast numbers of surgically adjusted Mi-Go worker-castes to act as shock-troops. The governmental system of the Mi-Go is utterly incomprehensible, revolving entirely around A/ Rocks and B/ the portal they huck them through. The do frequently kidnap (or take willingly) beings from across the solar system, at least they kidnap their brains. Disembodied Mi-Go brains are also used to pilot the glittering tripedal war machines of the fungal race, which have been used to devastating effect against fortified Yithian or Elder Race positions. Currently the Mi-Go are not bothering to response particularly fiercely to the Yithian counter-attack, since most of their manpower is currently occupied digging a particularly good vein of rocks in Western Laurasia (Where Vermont will be in fact).

Other special grubble in the shadow of the great powers, building their own petty empires. The largest of these is the Yithian client state of Valusia, under the rule of Yig, father of serpents. The reptilian Valusians are the only real Yithian ally of importance and have been supplied with several more esoteric weapons to help fight the Mi-Go. Meanwhile the Mi-Go have their own client states in the form of the primitive nameless reptiles and the disgusting flying polyps. Most concerning for all of the great powers are the Cosmic Octopi, last remnants of Great Cuthulu’s reign over the world. Reduced to a single island following the sinking of R’lyeh the remaining members of this race have been reduced to a cannibalistic, tribal existence on their one remaining demesne. They continue to practise certain black rituals with increasing desperation, but nothing will come of it, the Master of Dreams being very big being dead/asleep. Primitive Fish-Frog creatures also swarm over the ocean floor, seizing a few islands to build vast cyclopean monuments to Cuthulu and his lieutenants Dagon and Hydra. Then there are the things which crawl under the ground, Yuggs, Cuthonians and the formless spawn of Tsathoggua in the depths of N’kai. None of these pose a serious threat to the surface dwellers, even if they can pose a local danger, due to their utterly primitive technological state.

And in the forests of Gondwana a small squirrel-like mammal sits in a tree, listens to the bellow of distant dinosaurs and the shriek of discharging energy weapons; and dreams of the Empire to come.