View source for Cult of Nyogtha

The '''Cult of Nyogtha''' first appears in [[Henry Kuttner]]'s short story "[[The Salem Horror (fiction)]]" (1937).

==Description, History and Scope==
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[[Nyogtha]] is a minor deity reported to inhabit underground caverns on Earth bordering on the [[Underworld#Vale_of_Pnath|Vale of Pnath]], where it has a few worshipers, mostly witches and their ilk, whom it teaches spells on occasion in return for sacrifice. In the [[Dreamlands]] Nyogtha is worshiped by a band of ghouls, and some ghouls in the waking world may practice this worship as well.  [[Spawn of Nyogtha]] also do Nyogtha's bidding among Ghouls and men in the waking world and the Dreamlands.


===Identification, Psychology and Behavior===
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Among their [[Human Cultist]]s, [[Ghoul|Ghoul Cultists]]s, the [[People of K'n-yan]], [[Crawling One]]s, and the [[Spawn of Nyogtha]], the Cult of Nyogtha generally takes on the trappings of a death cult, with overt references to the [[Cthulhu Cult]] and various related Great Old Ones including [[Tsathoggua]], and Nyogtha itself is formless darkness.  As such, the appearance, trappings, and iconography of the cult are fairly simple and straightforward:  black hooded robes to shroud the worshipers monstrous forms, the use of the ''[[Necronomicon]]'' and ornate sacrificial daggers, crude stone altars in temples built in the tunnels and catacombs of the [[Hollow Earth]], skulls and other death symbolism, etc.  Cults are generally secretive and small, and closely-organized around one more more charismatic founding leaders who act as the cult's prophet and mouthpiece for Nyogtha, trading minor miracles for ritual sacrifice at the fall and winter seasons at Autumn Solstice, [[Halloween|Samhain]], and Yuletide.

The cult may operate more openly across the [[Dreamlands]], with dreams being an important element of cult activities, as a method of communication and recruitment for the cultists, with Ghouls often acting as the cult's messengers and recruiters from the tunnels beneath Dreamlands cities, and shrines within shunned and shadowy corners and basements of Dreamlands temples dedicated to the pantheons of Dream, and some of the most corrupt and dreaded cities of Dream operating temples openly, even with the blessing and participation of the cities' rulers.

==Resources==
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===Tomes, Artifacts, Sites===
* tome: ''[[Necronomicon]]''
* location:  [[Hollow Earth]], [[Dreamlands]]


===Allies, Creatures and Deities===
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* races: 
** [[Ghoul]]s
** [[Human Cultist]]s
** [[Spawn of Nyogtha]]
** [[Witch]]es
** [[Crawling One]]s
** [[People of K'n-yan]]
* allied cults: 
** [[Cult of Cthulhu]]
** [[Rakes|Cult of the Rakes]]
** [[Cult of Mordiggian]]


===Other Resources===
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==Heresies and Controversies==
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==Keeper Comments==
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==References==
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* fiction:  [[Henry Kuttner]]'s short story "[[The Salem Horror (fiction)]]" (1937)
* fiction: [[Kurt Miller]]'s "[[The Lurker in the Crypt (fiction)]]"
* fiction:  [[H.P. Lovecraft]]'s "[[The Festival (fiction)]]"


[[Category:Mythos:Cults]]
[[Category:Dreamlands]]
[[Category:HollowEarth]]
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