The Cold Ones are a fictional race expanded on by Chaosium in 1994 for the Call of Cthulhu role playing game. They were based on Clark Ashton Smith's "The Light from the Pole".
Overview[]
Cold Ones seem to only be encountered in regions or seasons of bitter cold, appearing and disappearing into snowy skies or drifts of snow and ice like ghosts. Being only partially immaterial, they cannot pass through solid material, although may gain entrance through the slimmest of openings. Whether they are a distinct species or the tortured souls of once-human worshippers of the Great Old Ones is disputed. Differing accounts hint at vague purpose, with the Cold Ones appearing as messengers, hunters, or omens, depending on the writer. All accounts seem to point to the Ylidheem as harbingers of woe and doom.
Background[]
Cold Ones are a race of semi-corporeal Elemental beings serving the Great Old Ones Rlim Shaikorth and Aphoom-Zhah, who appear as wailing humanoid spectres of swirling snow and vapor. They are only semi-immaterial and therefore are unable to pass through solid matter, but can seep through the thinnest opening or tiniest crack. The race is only active in bitterly cold areas, where they appear and disappear into drifts of snow and ice or snowy skies as if they were ghosts.