| “ | Often the gods of earth visit Hatheg-Kla in their ships of clouds, casting pale vapors over the slopes as they dance reminiscently on the summit under a clear moon. The villagers of Hatheg say it is ill to climb the Hatheg-Kla at any time, and deadly to climb it by night when pale vapors hide the summit and the moon. | „ | |
| ~ HPL: "The Other Gods" |
The Great Ones, a.k.a. the Gods of Earth, are entities created by the late American author Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
Overview[]
The so-called "gods" of the Dreamlands, the Great Ones are not as powerful as the Great Old Ones and are not even as intelligent as most humans. However, they are protected by the Outer Gods, particularly Nyarlathotep.
While they once lived on peaks across the world they were driven off of lower mountains by the spread of humanity until they had to leave Earth entirely, leaving only a mark on Mount Ngranek. The Great Ones now rule from their hidden fortress of Kadath, whose location in time and space is unknown. As well as occasionally returning to white capped Thurai, Lerion and Hatheg-Kla on cloud ships under the cover of a light mist, they abandoned Kadath for a brief period for the "sunset city" that Randolph Carter conjured in his dreams.
In the past, the Great Ones often married human women, so many human inhabitants of the Dreamlands have Great One blood in them. (HPL: The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath)
In H. P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands, a distinction is made between the Great Ones and "Lesser Dreamlands Deities", such as Oukranos, which aren't part of the pantheon.
List of Great Ones[]
- Hagarg Ryonis (EXP: H. P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands, "Wizards of Hyperborea")
- Karakal (EXP: H. P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands, "Wizards of Hyperborea", "The Crawler of Pnoth")
- Lobon (HPL: "The Doom That Came to Sarnath", EXP: H. P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands, "Wizards of Hyperborea")
- Lilith (HPL: "The Horror at Red Hook", EXP: Malleus Monstrorum)
- Nath-Horthath (HPL: "Celephaïs", The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, EXP: H. P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands, "Kadath/The Vision and the Journey")
- Tamash (HPL: "The Doom That Came to Sarnath", EXP: "The Maker of Gods", H. P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands, "Wizards of Hyperborea")
- Zo-Kalar (HPL: "The Doom That Came to Sarnath", EXP: "Wizards of Hyperborea")
References[]
- The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia: A Guide to H.P. Lovecraft's Universe by Daniel Harms (2008).
- Malleus Monstrorum by Chaosium