The King in Yellow

The King in Yellow, also known as "He Who Is Not to be Named," "The Unspeakable One," and "Hastur," is a powerful cosmic entity and the brother of Sleeper Beneath Waves. He is a central figure in the Lovecraftian Mythos, known for his manipulative and malevolent nature.

In the world of Molderia, Hastur is a looming threat, constantly seeking to intrude and steal chunks of the continent to populate his own planet, Carcosa. His motivations are rooted in his desire to deny souls an afterlife, a twisted form of cosmic revenge for his own damned state.

Hastur's presence is felt throughout Molderia, although he has yet to physically manifest. He manipulates events from afar, using his vast cosmic powers to influence the minds of the weak and susceptible. His ultimate goal is to create a portal between dimensions, allowing him to physically enter Molderia and enact his nefarious plans.

Hastur's influence has led to the rise of cults dedicated to his worship, known as the Cult of the Yellow Sign. These cults are often found in the darker corners of Molderia, hidden away from the prying eyes of the goblin banking guild. They seek to hasten Hastur's arrival, conducting dark rituals and sacrifices in his name.

Despite his malevolent intentions, Hastur is bound by a truce with his brother, Sleeper Beneath Waves. The two cosmic entities agreed long ago to never directly assault each other, due to the certainty that at least one of them would be destroyed in the process. This has led to a delicate balance of power, with Hastur seeking to undermine Sleeper Beneath Waves's influence without directly confronting him.

"Ah, you mortals. Always yearning for certainty, groping blindly in the dark for that elusive thread of unchanging truth. You do not seek divine enlightenment, nor spiritual transcendence, but rather a philosophical rock upon which to anchor your transient lives. You yearn for a glimpse of the Everlasting, a taste of the immutable that defies the chaos of your existence. You crave the sublime, that which transcends the ephemeral and glorifies being, a beacon illuminating the dark seas of life. It matters little whether this sublime exists in reality, or merely as a figment of your pitiful imaginings. For you, the mere belief in such a beacon is a balm to the raw wounds of your existence. So you dream of your Carcassonne, your utopia built of sand and sea foam. You stitch together a tapestry of hope from the tattered remnants of your reality, weaving illusions and masks to obscure the stark disappointment of your mundane existence. This, at least, you believe to be better. But what you fail to grasp, my dear uninvited guests, is that beneath the mask of your hopeful illusions, beneath the shining beacon of your dreams, lies the unspeakable horror of the void. The vast, uncaring cosmos in which your existence, your truths, your dreams are but motes of dust swept away in the cosmic winds. Behold, I am Hastur, the King in Yellow. I am the avatar of that void, the embodiment of the cosmic horror that lurks just beyond the thin veneer of your illusions. The dread you feel at my name, the horror that gnaws at your sanity, is but a glimmer of the true terror of the universe. Welcome to my realm, where masks fall away, and illusions shatter. Welcome to the harsh light of reality."

--Hastur, to the players

"Welcome, wayfarers, to the realm of Carcosa, a city that once shimmered with ethereal splendor, now a forgotten wasteland. I am the forgotten king of this once-glorious city, forever doomed to wander its ruins. This desolate expanse you see before you... this was supposed to be our heaven, our glorious afterlife. Once, we believed in a god, in his promise of eternal serenity within Carcosa's magnificent walls. We lived, we died, expecting to awaken in our promised paradise. But alas, our god had fallen, our paradise with him. What awaited us was not the heavenly city we had dreamt of, but a desolate wasteland echoing with the lament of its abandoned souls. Imagine expecting heaven, only to find a barren, godless realm. Imagine the horror of discovering this truth not in death, but in life. Whether you believe in heaven or not, the thought of an eternity spent in such a place is enough to shatter the sanity of any man. And so we come to Hastur, the King in Yellow. Once a man like us, reborn in this desolate realm, he chose to rule over the ruins, the false king of a fallen heaven. Perhaps he played a part in our god's demise, a usurper deity who brought ruin upon our sacred city. The facade has been stripped away, revealing the ruinous fruits of his reign.Remember our tale, wayfarers. See Carcosa for what it truly is, and know the horror of the King in Yellow's rule."

--King Assatur, to the players