Hikaru: This refers to August Derleth�s rather controversial
additions to the Lovecraft Mythos. In a nutshell, there was a war
between the Elder Gods (Nodens, Bast, Hypnos, and Co.) and the
{So far as I know, the only named Elder God was Nodens. Bast and
Hypnos were the "Younger Gods" of Earth, dangerous powerful beings,
but no match for the GOO.}
According to one interpretation. According to several others, including
official
sources at Chaosium (which basically owns the Mythos at this point) they were,
in fact, Elder Gods.
Great Old Ones/Outer Gods (Cthulhu, Hastur, Nyarlathotep,
Tsathoggua, etc). The Elder Gods (please take note of that name)
won, in a manner of speaking, and sealed many of the GOO away,
sometimes using the Elder Sign as a seal. For a more detailed
explanation, including the pseudo-science involved, I would
reccommend reading �The Burrowers Beneath,� by Brian Lumley.
{Strictly speaking, even Lovecraft indicated that there had been
some kind of conflict involving the Great Old Ones}
STRICTLY speaking? Yes. However, Derleth is the one who fleshed it out,
turning it into this good versus evil thing with the Elder Gods as white
hats. He's the one generally credited with it.
Hikaru: Yes and no. There are only two possibilities for said �sleeper;�
Ubbo-Sathla, the Unbegotten Source, or the Unknown God. And since
Rod won�t let John use stuff from �Call of Cthulhu� (not even Delta
Green, which is BRUTALLY cool) it must be Ubbo-Sathla.
However, Ubbo-Sathla was fairly mindless, and had no tech to speak of.
{He was one of the more oozey ones though, and therefore a good source
of LCL.}
A possibility. Given the incredible prevalence of things oozey in the Mythos,
though, one hesitates to jump to that conclusion.
However, the Elder Things, a race of fairly non-hostile star-spanning
beings,
{Hmm. Not sure how you are judging their hostility. It's likely that
the Elder Things would regard us as potentially dangerous animals of
little value. However they _were_ one of the more comprehensible
species in the mythos despite their bizarre physiognomy.}
I define non-hostile as "not actively engaged in trying to wipe us off the
face of the planet." Also, they never exhibited the more imperialistic
tendencies of some
of the other races like the Mi-Go, or Cthulhu and his ilk. They are not,
however, as friendly to humanity as say, the Yithians though.
had a VERY advanced civilization in Antarctica, with lots of cool stuff
NERV would dearly love to get it�s hands on. In fact, the references
made by SEELE and Gendo would seem to indicate that they actually
recovered LIVING Elder Things from what�s left of the polar ice.
{The Elder Things were heavy hitters. They had the technology to
throw down with Cthlu and his relatives and come out on top at least
for a few million years until the shoggoths get uppity.}
The operative words in that paragraph being WERE heavy hitters. S'not the case
anymore.
> [Do they like their cults, or would they freely destroy them?]
>
> "Destroy them," Asuka muttered, remembering the
> vision she had had when fighting Rahab...Ghatanathoa.
Hikaru: In this case, Asuka is right and wrong. Certain of the GOO
would most definitly simply waste their cults without caring. However,
us humans are useful to Cthulhu, and his cohorts Dagon and Hydra,
and they�d keep us around as both an ego boost and for breeding stock.
Also, the snake-god Yig is quite benevolent. A couple intricate
ceremonies at harvest time and a few small sacrifices, and he�ll
bestow all kinds of blessings.
{But then Lovecraft didn't originate Yig or Tsathoggua for that
matter. Tsathoggua was the product of Clark Ashton Smith, but
I can't remember who thought up Yig.}
So what?
> [Four Lords or Five? Asuka must be Fire. Shinji
> is...Earth? Plant? Air? Rei could be Water or Air. Who
> is the Fourth Child? Someone I know? Probably male, for
> balance...but then, their goal is not that of balance.
Hikaru: I have a theory regarding this...... but it�s a bit wild, so I�d
be more comfortable not stating it. I will, say however, that you
should all think quite hard about the title. �Children of an ELDER
GOD.� It�s not just a clever name, people..
{The elemental business there is of course a Derleth bit.}
One of his lamer bits, if you ask me. In fact, they mock it at one point in
CoaEG
> Story repeats itself? Xoth's defenders betrayed
> them for power. As did those of Yhtill. Can fire be fought
> with fire? Let he who hunts monsters beware. I can feel
> the abyss gazing into me. Will they save or damn us all?]
Hikaru: Nietchze quotes. Xoth is where Cthulhu lived for awhile.
I think Joh may have made up Yhtill, but that�s an age-old
tradition with Lovecraftian stories.
{The priest of Death in Lawrence Watt-Evans Sword of
Bhelu series is the King in Yellow, whose true name is Yhtill.
In the context of this story, Yhtill is probably the name of
the nation or planet which was defeated and consumed by Hastur
at the beginning of his career of infamy.}
I stand corrected, sir.
-Mercutio
"A plague 'a both your houses!"