Nyarlathotep

Nyarlathotep

(Deity)

Titles

The Crawling Chaos
The Empty Traveler
The Black Pharaoh
The Haunter of the Dark

Alignment

Chaotic evil

Portfolio

Conspiracies
Dangerous secrets
Forbidden magic

Worshipers

Aucturn

Symbol

Inverted black ankh

Images of Nyarlathotep

Source: Core Rulebook, pg(s). 488

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Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos, is an Outer God who is said to take on thousands of forms, each having its own cult. Unlike the other Outer Gods who take little interest in mortal affairs, Nyarlathotep seems to enjoy manipulating them and driving them to madness. It is believed that his influence can be felt in every major calamity if one looks hard enough, and he has prepared for the apocalyptic return of Great Old Ones on countless planets.

Dogma

The Crawling Chaos is a god of dangerous secrets and conspiracies and strives to bring down the achievements of mortals. He hastens the death of heads of state and government reformers in the hope of moving all civilization toward anarchy.

Appearance

Well-known avatars of Nyarlathotep include:

The Black Pharaoh

The Black Pharaoh was a humanoid connected to the pre-Gap nation of Osirion  on Golarion.

The Empty Traveler

The Empty Traveler appears as a humanoid in a space suit, who upon closer scrutiny is revealed to be a headless helmet with writhing tentacles inside. It is the most well-known form of Nyarlathotep's in the Pact Worlds system.

The Haunter of the Dark

The Haunter of the Dark is a bat-like entity with a tri-lobed burning eye.

Church

Nyarlathotep is worshipped by scholars craving forbidden knowledge, serial killers, madmen and those who seek to tear down civilisation at all costs. They believe that Nyarlathotep ties together the worship of all the Great Old Ones, and when the time is right, he will open the doors to the uncaring light of the stars.

Temples

Secret temples of Nyarlathotep can be found all across the Pact Worlds, but its centre is the Pyramid of the Black Pharaoh on Aucturn. Some believe that Carsai the King, the dark lord of Aucturn, is an avatar or herald of Nyarlathotep.

Holy symbol

Nyarlathotep's holy symbol is an inverted black ankh.

Rivalries

The church of Talavet has a long-standing feud with he church of Nyarlathotep, due to the Crawling Chaos' love of secrets and twisting truth into conspiracy theories.