Elders
ARIES02 – Mercutio
Ah, but what is an “Unspeakable Horror”? Besides being another name for Elders, in the simplest of terms, it is a being whose soul cannot pass on or reincarnate, granting them the curse or blessing of immortality. Of course, an Elder’s body can be destroyed though most, if not all, Elders have developed strong enough magic to safeguard their chosen bodies against any physical damage, including disease and aging. Elders go by many names, such as Eldritch Beings, Old Ones, Aberrations, Abnormalities, Ancient/Deep/Unspeakable Horrors, Deathless, Nephilim, Granpè… And I’m sure I could go on and on. Though the most commonly accepted and most neutral of connotations tends to be simply “Elder.” And Elders come in three categories: Typical, Nephilistic, and Extracyclical.
Typical Elders, usually only referred to as Elders, are the common masses of the undying. How one becomes an Elder varies greatly from Elder to Elder. Some stumble upon an erè in the Universe which corrupts their soul from mortal to immortal. A well-known example would be the Great “Ape,” Zehhurozzm. A monkey—despite what he may claim—who drank the “primordial soup” which granted him immortality. Other Elders spring out of erè in the Universe themselves, born from chaos, confusion, and concepts. A good example of one of those Elders would be America’s Favorite Gameshow Host: Complexico. He is a strange aberration in the Universe and is a manifestation of the concept of complexity itself. Others pursue immortality on their own accord though such a task is messy and often produces a “half-Elder” or “Elderling,” a being who mimics the immortality of Elders, though it is more so simply very difficult to kill.
Then, of course, there are the Nephilistic Elders, better known as Angels, Celestials, Djinni, Devathas, Sidhe, and on and on. Often considered more… benevolent(?) than riff-raff of the common Elders, they are often much stranger than even common Elders. Plenty of Typical Elders have at one point been mortal or at least experience some degree of mortality—Nephilistic Elders do not. They are the creation of the Universe and act as agents to serve and maintain its order. They often care not for mortal plights and see the world in unequivocal black and white. However, some of the younger Nephilistic Elders have displayed greater degrees of mortal sympathy, possibly due to being forced out of the Topside due to lack of status and space. While I would say Angels are “stronger” than Typical Elders, there are many weak Angels and very, very strong Elders.
Lastly there are the Extracyclical Elders, also known as Intercyclical Elders, Cold Elders, and… controversially, Archons. I suppose there is room for debate whether or not Archons are of a separate ilk to the Cold Elders, but for the sake of this receipt, we can consider them one and the same, no? As it turns out, the Universe does not revolve around itself. Yes, it is all we know and all we possibly could know, but there are Universes outside of our own, and in those other Universes, there are also Elders. And, as Universal Laws work differently in each Universe, some Universes offer greater opportunities to “travel” to other Universes. While one might assume that Extracyclical Elders are the most powerful of Elders, this is only partially true. Yes, by traveling to another Universe, they show a degree of power our Elders do not typically possess… once in our Universe, they must play by our rules, no? It is why Fate and his Zanmi chose to stay outside of the confines of our Universe, as it gave them more power than they would have inside it. And, well, once they entered our Universe, they were killed.
Ah—and yes, I suppose that is a newer development in the study of Elders, no? They can be killed now. But that is another story for another time, I suspect.