Monthly archives: October 2022

British – A Northern English version of the supernatural Hellhounds, that fly across the heavens looking for the souls of unbaptized children. Some legends link them to the Hounds of Tindalos of blasphemous lore. The sound of their diabolical yelping can indicate a pending death. They are said to travel in pairs, and described as having the body of a dog with the head of an infant. – Owen, Rev Elias, Welsh Folklore, pp 179. 1887.

“For overhead are sweeping Gabriel’s hounds

Doomed with their impious lord the flying hart

To chase for ever on aërial ground.”

– Wordsworth, William, The Miscellaneous Poems of William Wordsworth, Volume 3, pp. 156. 1820

“Monstrous human-headed dogs, who traverse the air, and are often heard although seldom seen.” – Henderson, William, Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties of England of 1879, pp 202. 1880

These unfortunate creatures were once men, who through betrayal or misfortunate ended up wandering the labyrinth of the Great Old One Eihort. They either never encountered Eihort or refused its bargain to become a host for its brood in exchange for being released from the Labyrinth. They then either escaped the Great Old One’s wrath or were spared to wander endlessly in the endless passages of the labyrinth. Lost, desperate, and likely dying of thirst or hunger these people then drank from one of the maze’s pools fed by dripping water or ate some of the strange glowing fungus found growing throughout the labyrinth. Once this alien material entered their bodies they were doomed, spiraling into a vortex of madness and mutation.  

“Ghouls are usually described as doglike or canine in appearance, a description that has as much to do with their pack behavior and habit of digging as it does their specific skull shape.

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To change up ghoul imagery, try other graveyard scavengers. Ghouls in your campaign might also resemble or at least evoke:

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Flies (bristles on arms, segmented eyes, green-blue sheen on flesh)”

— Kenneth Hite et al., “Hideous Creatures – A Bestiary of the Cthulhu Mythos”

I decided to take Mr. Hite’s advice to heart, and write a retheme for one of my favorite monsters in Delta Green. The book lists several other aesthetic options, but I had the most ideas for flies and they were the most different from your ‘stereotypical ghoul.’ I also took the opportunity to elaborate on and rewrite some existing mechanics I felt were too vague or just didn’t like.

Ghouls are ageless creatures that dwell underground and emerge to feed on the dead. Any corpse will do, but for some reason, they have a taste for humanity. Despite their scavenger-like behavior, ghouls are as dangerous as any predator. They are big and tough, four arms bristling with hairs and tipped with claws, nearly every inch of their skin hardened into a green-blue shell. Their mouths appear human at first glance, but open to reveal gummy jaws with a few prehensile fangs and a long rasping tongue.

These pigs are extremely rare, the result of selective breeding by blasphemous cultists, sorcerers, and covens with skills in animal husbandry. Despite a keepers’ best efforts, the special traits of this pig do not often breed true. It is estimated that few as 1 in 250 piglets sired or born of an Echo Swine inherit the special genes which makes them unique. 

At a glance an Echo Swine appears identical to regular domestic pigs. Those making a hard Natural History roll, or whom are familiar with raising pigs, may notice these creatures have a three dewclaws on each trotter, whereas normal pigs only have two. In behavior they are also similar to normal pigs, but seem to always be hungry no matter how much they eat. They maintain good muscle mass no matter how much they ingest or how little physical activity they have. They also do not like to be around other pigs, unless they are in season for breeding.  Otherwise they are usually kept in solitary pens to prevent them from killing and eating their passel mates.

Houston this is Mars Rover 1, we have found something that well, I don’t think we’re the first ones here…We’re in a cave but it has stone inscriptions of some sort of…wait somethings moving down here…Rawlings did you see that it looks like an insect only…ARRAAAGGGHHHHH…radio silence for 20 minutes…Houston, cough cough, this …is…Mars Ro….its taken over…its taking me home…cough…you have to shoot us down Houston…radio coms shutdown. 

The last communication from Mars 1 mission, 2045, the shuttle was shot down in re-entry. The wreckage, witnesses, and all materials were seized before the CDC were able to secure the site. The only evidence of the unknown force was witnesses claiming to see green signal smoke and a black helicopter leaving the site

Dedicated Re-animators

“How dare you judge my work”

– Herbert West

No doctor is complete without their helpers. Attending Physicians, and especially nurses. Skill and genius carry us all forward but without those smaller, meaner helping hands, no progress can ever be made. A certain Dr. West was a man of exceeding hubris but even he knew the above to be true.

After breaking the laws of the sane by reanimating the dead. West capriciously toyed with the mechanical parts and produced many abominations. Some were toys to satisfy his curiosity others were meant to aid his mighty work. Aid he needed but without those pesky protests that so often belch from the mouths of lesser minds.

West’s Nurses. Genderless fusions of legs and hands gathered from the aftermaths of West’s more vigorous creations. Infused with a will to aid in the work of defeating death. Even after the Good doctor’s disappearance, they still lurk in long forgotten haunts.

“…a thing all over hairy, all the face hayry & a long nose & I don’t know how to tell you the face looks w’ith two Leggs itt goeth upright & is about two or three foot high & goeth upright like a man…” – Elaine G. Breslaw, “Tituba’s Confession: The Multicultural Dimensions of the 1692 Salem Witch-Hunt,” published in Ethnohistory Vol. 44, No 3 (Summer 1997). 

Alternative names: Great God Pan, Husband to Witches, Witch King.

This mask of Nyarlathotep takes the shape of a goat with the hands and feet of a man, walking upright. A crown of flowers in constant bloom adorns his horns. In this form, he is the mate of the Black Goat of the Woods and her high priest (von Juntz, 1839). 

The being is held in reverence by witches that worship Mythos gods, especially those that follow the Black Goat. He is often called to lead sabbats, forcing followers to dance until they collapse from exhaustion. Such sabbats often involve a willing sacrifice giving themselves over to the He-Goat’s urges. Often these ritualized matings descend into frenzied orgies. 

First born of a Thousand Young

“The man screams dropping to his knees as his vocal cords rip and the cry splits into a roar. His dinner jacket swells and bursts at the seams, his body beneath breaking and bulging.

Popping and snapping, the man’s suit rips to accommodate the new form beneath. One last scream through torn vocal cords echoes and with a ground shuddering stomp, he now stands eight feet tall, matted fur covering his body and poking out through the tears in the black-tie dinner suit, horns curving out and up ending in a deadly point, hooves exploding through the brogues once worn on his feet and yellow goat eyes with a sideways slit pupil blinking with each turn of the head, accounting for everyone in the room.” — Daniel Gulliver – Holmouth Times