Tsathoggua.
| “ | [In] that secret cave in the bowels of Voormithadreth... abides from eldermost eons the god Tsathoggua. You shall know Tsathoggua by his great girth and his batlike furriness and the look of a sleepy black toad which he has eternally. He will rise not from his place, even in the ravening of hunger, but will wait in divine slothfulness for the sacrifice. | „ |
| ~ Clark Ashton Smith |
Tsathoggua, also known as Zhothaqquah, Sadu-Hem, Saint Toad or the Sleeper of N'kai is one of the Old Ones.
Description[]
It is likely that Tsathoggua can alter his shape, the better to adapt to whatever environment he is in. When he dwelt on Cykranosh (a planet we know today as Saturn), he probably had a much different form, probably looking more like his paternal uncle Hziulquoigmnzhah , whose head dangles underneath his spheroid-like body. He is notorious for being incredibly languorous and refuses to leave his chambers unless mortally threatened.
Overview[]
Tsathoggua is often found asleep, but if disturbed, he will eat the offender unless they have a sacrifice to offer; in which case, Tsathoggua will consume the sacrifice instead and then fall back into hibernation. However, there are exceptions. When the wizard Ezdagor sent the Hyperborean Lord Ralibar Vooz as a sacrifice, Tsathoggua refused him and bound Ralibar Vooz to a geas, sending him to be eaten by another denizen of Mount Voormithadreth (the next five likewise did the same). The Toad God would also feast upon the Night Gaunts that attacked his followers. This angered the Toad God as they were only his to torment and feed upon so he opted to devour the Night Gaunts but upon being eaten by Tsathoggua, he molds the Tiphon that they carry into his own variant with his own will.
Tsathoggua dwells deep beneath the earth in N'kai and once dwelt inside Mount Voormithadreth in Hyperborea with his will being carried out by the Formless Spawn, polymorphic extraterrestrial entities made of black goo and variants of the Tiphon. It is believed that a race known as the Voormi began dwelling underground after hearing the call of Tsathoggua. The Voormi made their way to Hyperborea and settled there under the leadership of the eponymous Voorm. Although they became enslaved by the Reptilians, the Voormi would later consider Tsathoggua to be responsible for their liberation, and worship him with even more fervor. However, after the subsequent collapse of the Voormi civilization by humans, Tsathoggua abandoned the Voormi and retreated to the Black Pit of N'kai, but mainly after the continent was iced over by Apollo who also banned the worship of the Toad God.
Black Ooze[]
According to the Department of Eldritch Research in the B.P.R.D., they are revealed to be a variant of the Tiphon, extraterrestrial shapeshifting creatures also made out of of a black tar-like substance. One theory in regards to how Tsathoggua came about the "weaponization" so to speak of the Tiphon to be under his own will was that the Toad God would feast upon the Night Gaunts that attacked his followers. And the Night Gaunts are known for suckling the black substance from the innumerable breasts of Yibb-Tstll, which they then carry, and upon being eaten by Tsathoggua, he molds them into his own variant with his own will.